


Bad Advice

by XxCyro922xX



Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Genre: Attempted Sexual Assault, F/M, First Kiss, First Time, Stalking, Unrequited Love, too lazy to add tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2019-07-25 20:07:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 63,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16204748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XxCyro922xX/pseuds/XxCyro922xX
Summary: Most of the time, what is shared among the Survivors is pretty good advice on how to deal with the killers- how to evade them, how to watch out for their traps, how to slow them down, etc. Anything else, though? Yeah, sometimes it isn't the best advice.Unfortunately for a few of them, bad advice can go a long ways... but not necessarily in the worst.





	1. Promise

_There are as many forms of advice as there are colors of the rainbow. Remember that good advice can come from bad people and bad advice from good people. The important thing about advice is that it is simply that. Advice._

-Al Franken

 

* * *

 

“Shit!”

The moment we heard Meg curse we instinctively scrambled away before the generator blew up. Had it been any other trial, we would have stayed to fix the last quarter of it. This trial, however, was woefully horrible from the start.

The moment I opened my eyes to the dreadful sight of the Coldwind Farm slaughterhouse, I had a gut feeling we were doomed. Before Meg and I could even start on our first generator my ears flushed with my heartbeat. The sound of the Hillbilly’s chainsaw speeding towards us disoriented me even further, causing me to fall flat on my behind… Meg was the first to get hooked.

Nearly five minutes in and we had already lost Nea. Jake was injured too severely for me to heal him and Meg was getting too exhausted to keep distracting the killer to buy us time. Miraculously, I barely had a scratch on me, but seeing my friends getting attacked always hurt more than any wound I’ve received.

“Damn it,” Jake cursed under his breath, “just try to find the hatch while Meg and I keep him busy. We’re not going to get out of this one alive.” He peaked over the window of the shack while I started on the generator, just three more left.

“No Jake, I’ve told you a hundred times, I don’t leave anyone behind.” I sternly replied while I tried stripping the red wire, or was it orange?

He scoffed at me, “Yeah, I figured.”

In the distance we heard the revving of the chainsaw followed by a blood curling scream.

“Fuck… He got her,” Jake said as he stumbled to help me, blood dripping from his left shoulder.

My hands started trembling too much, Meg’s distant cries were breaking me. “I’m going for her, stay here to finish.” I told him as I stood up, wiping my sweaty palms on my jeans, “He hasn’t hit me yet so I’ll be fine!"

Before I could hear Jake’s protests I dashed out of the shack and towards Meg. I could sense that she was getting close to being taken by the Entity’s claws and it gave me an adrenaline boost.

As I approached Meg I could hear my heart beating faster but I couldn’t see the Hillbilly. Without thinking I rushed to unhook Meg, but as I grasped her waist I was violently pulled away by the killer’s arms. I started hitting at the deformed arm while Meg was mercilessly stabbed by the claws, tears now clouding my vision.

“No! Meg!” I scram while being led away from the now broken hook, “Please! Let me go!” The killer threw me over his shoulder as he walked towards the slaughterhouse.

I had stopped thrashing around as I continued sobbing. Four trials- for an entire four trials no one I was with had gotten killed and I had started to hope that we were finally getting the upper-hand on this sick game. But I was wrong, like always.

Hopeless and distraught, I had already accepted that I would die next as I heard the third generator come to life in the distance. I prayed that Jake would follow his own advice and find the hatch, at least he could escape alive and semi-well.

As I approached the slaughterhouse the pungent smell of old, rotten blood started permeating my nostrils, but before I could open my eyes I was thrown backwards. With a muffled thump I crashed down on… hay?

I quickly opened my eyes and saw the Hillbilly towering over me. He had tossed me on top of a large bale of hay laying in front of the slaughterhouse with the barn doors wide open, displaying the hanging pig carcasses. Before I had time to process anything, the killer crouched down to me and eagerly sniffed me—wait, what…?

I stayed frozen in place as he brought his disgustingly deformed face towards my crotch and, without pausing, started tearing at my blouse. Then I snapped. My legs started violently kicking at him as my mind shot into overdrive. _This couldn’t be happening! The killers have only ever killed us, never have they tried raping us!_

I was able to hit him directly on his ribs and he let out a terrifying growl. He roughly grabbed my neck with his left hand and with his right one started to pull at the front of my jeans. Then, he was off of me.

Jake had somehow managed to quickly make his way over to us and had thrown his whole body against the killer. In a matter of seconds, the killer had gotten his weapon and started slashing at Jake, spouting thick streams of blood across the entire area, including all over me.

I had never been so close to this kind of brutal death and having to hear Jake’s screams right in my ears caused me to shut down. Perhaps it was all the blood or maybe it was sheer frustration that caused the Hillbilly to growl at me and start to choke me.

I didn’t have time to gasp for air as he snapped my neck, causing the whole world to turn black.

It was the first time I ever died without feeling any pain.

 

* * *

 

It always felt weird being reanimated after dying. One second everything is pitch black and the next you’re standing in the middle of the forest with the dim light of the campfire at a distance.

My legs still felt shaky, the image of Jake being cut open, the disgusting feeling of having the Hillbilly tear at my clothes- everything, came bearing down on me. I just wanted to get back to the others and collapse.

As I made my way towards the camp I could hear Ace and David’s hearty laughter echo towards me, they had the most contagious laughs and I couldn’t help but ease a little bit.

“-then the bloody cunt tried ‘ta jump out the window ‘fore seein’ the fuckin’ stool ‘n- BAM fuckin’ twit fell face first!” I could hear David say as I approached the small group who were all facing against me.

David sat directly ahead of me leaning against a log, and Ace and Dwight sat to his sides. Bill was laying on the log at the opposite end with his beret on his face.

“Fuckin’ A, that’s what it was,” he chuckled to himself as he shook his head, “and that, me mate, is who I’d imagin’ you’d be like!” He laughed loudly again as he leaned on the old tree trunk, pointing his right thumb towards Ace.

“Ah fuck off, King!” Ace replied as he lazily threw a rock towards David.

I quietly sat behind David, making sure not to be a distraction in case they were enjoying themselves, but as soon as I did Dwight looked towards me and jumped.

“Claudette!” Dwight said as he scrambled up towards me, “h-how did the trial go?”

I sighed a little, “Uh, not too good,” I chuckled, “…we all died.” I let my head hang a little as I took in a deep breath. “I think I jinxed ourselves when I said we were getting better at this.” I tried to lightheartedly tell him.

“Oh… w-well it’s not your fault. I’m sure you guys tried your best.” He told me as he sat down next to me, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

Dwight had become one of my closest friends during this whole ordeal. Almost immediately he started stepping up towards a leadership role, motivating us in everything we did and reassuring us that no matter how bad we screwed up, next time would be better. _No way but up from here you guys! W-we’ll get it next time!_ He would usually say after a bad trial. We’ve become like siblings at this point.

“And the others?” I asked him with a weary smile.

“Well, Meg took off with Kate to go gather some stuff and Nea is back there resting,” he explained as he pointed in different directions, “Jake still isn’t back though…”

“He probably took off to salvage some stuff,” Ace interceded as he stood up and stretched, “that boy never hangs ‘round here much anyway. I’m off to get some shut eye, don’t wanna go through another trial feelin’ like shit.” He said as he walked towards the small patch of tents that we made to the edge of the campfire.

“Oh, and King, _please_ try not to make too much ruckus with Feng. We ain’t all as deaf as you!” Ace shouted as he got further from the three of use.

“Ha! Bloody cunt!” David replied as he stayed leaning on the tree, looking up towards the sky.

“Where is Feng by the way?” I asked them as I looked around the camp, it seemed like she was out on another trial even though she had just completed one before I disappeared for mine.

“Called to ‘nother trial right afta’ ya’ left.” David replied.

“S-she’ll be alright. She’s one of the toughest out of all of us.” Dwight said, I’m guessing to calm the nerves of David.

“Bloody brilliant she is, mate, ain’t worryin’ ‘bout her,” David said as he started to get up, dusting his jeans and fixing his coat, “Just worrin' if she’s gonna be too tired to give me some tonight.” He added as he broke into another bout of laughter, especially since Dwight started blushing fiercely.

“David!” I raised my voice at him, “you know how Feng gets when you talk like that!” I scolded him.

“A’right, a’right Mama Claudette, I’ll keep me mouth clean for ya” he chuckled as he playfully patted my head and made his way towards the forest, “gonna take a piss n’meantime.”

Dwight and I silently sat as we watched David’s large frame disappear into the tree line. The stillness of the thick fog still made me nervous even after all this time.

“Hey Dwight,” I broke the silence, “something kinda weird happened during the trial.”

His eyes locked onto me with concern, “W-what happened?” he started lightly touching my arm, as if to check for any damage, “a-a-are you okay?”

I sighed. “Well, we were up against the Hillbilly,” I started, but I became a bit weary about the idea of letting Dwight know about the killer’s uh, gross intent, “and well, I tried saving Meg from the hook but, you know, failed” I dryly chuckled.

Something started forming at the pit of my stomach, but I couldn’t put a finger on it.

Dwight stared at me in anticipation and concern.

“He grabbed me before I could really do anything and then,” I started really regretting this conversation, why? I couldn’t tell. I hadn’t moved my gaze from where David disappeared, and quite frankly I was feeling intimidated to look at Dwight.

“What did he do, Claudette?” Dwight finally asked. He sounded serious this time, and didn’t even stutter.

I finally placed a finger on the feeling I had, it was shame.

“He, uh- well after he got me he tried to kill me but Jake was able to push him off,” I turned to look at him, “but he couldn’t do much and he… the Hillbilly chopped him up right in front of me…” My voice slowly drifted around the end.

I felt bad that I couldn’t tell Dwight, one of my closest friends, what had happened and I turned away. He would’ve been able to catch on to my omission if he was looking into my eyes.

He sighed this time, “I-I’m sorry you had to see that so close,” he said as he gently grabbed my right hand, “it’s never easy seeing anyone get killed that bad… especially with a chainsaw.” He shuddered a bit.

“B-but hey, if you want I can go get some lavender to help calm you a bit. I know how much you like the scent. Oh! A-and I can try to make some of that chamomile tea you always make us.” He squeezed my hand a bit.

I turned to him and smiled. He was brightly smiling as if he was a little boy who had just made his mother proud. Well, considering that he could rarely remember any plant names, he made me proud with correctly naming the two.

“That sounds just about perfect.” I told him as I pulled him in for a hug.

The first time I hugged Dwight it was absolutely awkward. I assumed he hardly touched other people since he yelped and threw his hands up, almost as if he was getting arrested. He had helped me escape from the Hag’s grasp by throwing himself in front of her and pushing me out of the exit doorway. I had been so touched by his selflessness that as soon as I saw him at the campfire I immediately threw myself at him for a hug. Afterwards, he blurted out he was sorry for touching me and it made everyone laugh. But he has changed so much since then…

He tightly embraced me and didn’t let go for a few moments, “Stay put.” He finally told me as he let me go. He grabbed my hand once again and got up.

If a stranger had seen us I’m sure they would assume we were a couple, but everyone knew the kind of sibling bond we had…well, mostly everybody.

He finally let go of my hand and walked towards the left field of the camp. He was going the completely opposite side of where I pick lavender and chamomile, but his confident stride held me from telling him he was going the wrong way. _I’m sure he’ll find his way eventually._

“So,” a gruffly voice made me jolt a bit from surprise, “what really happened, Patches?” Bill said as he sat up from his laying position. _I completely forgot he was here!_

“He tried to rape me!” I blurted out. I quickly started panicking at the brashness of my statement.

“Huh,” Bill replied, “sick fucks aren’t they.” He said as more of a statement than a question.

“Oh God, Bill,” I gasped out as I buried my face into my hands in embarrassment, “I’m so sorry I said that!”

I heard him cough a bit and then smelled the strong sent of his cigarette, “Yeah, Cowgirl and little Ms. Min said the same. Well, not necessarily attempted rape but they said he started sniffing at them during their last trial. Right after you left.”

My face shot up in shock, “What?! Oh my God!” I started shaking my head, “N-no! They can’t be trying to rape us! They’re suppose to be killers n-not rapists!” I declared as my mind started racing with a hundred scenarios where we would have to fend off the now sexually depraved killers.

Was it just the Hillbilly or did the others start turning as well? Is death by rape going to be some new, sick way of killing us now? Would the guys have to watch their backs as well, literally?!

“Calm down, calm down.” Bill told me as he surely saw my terrified expression, “The girls said he tossed them aside once he got a good smell of ‘em.”

My terror now turned to confusion, “But… he was tearing at my clothes. If Jake wouldn’t have stopped him I’m so sure he would have, you know…”

“But he didn’t,” Bill shot out as he blew out smoke from the side of his mouth, “don’t let what-ifs bother ya too much, makes the situation worse than it already is.”

“But, why didn’t he try the same with them?” I quickly realized how bad I let that come out, “I mean- no! It’s great that he didn’t try anything with them bu-“

“Eh, they’re probably tainted. Ya know, non-virginal and such.” He said nonchalantly.

“Virgins? What does that… why would that matter?” I asked him, still not fully understanding his comment, “I mean, why would creatures like them be concerned about _that_?”

Bill shrugged, “From the few horror movies I’ve seen the most evil usually prey on the pure, the innocent. Such as yourself.” He nodded his head at me. “He probably smelled the scent of a man on ‘em. Or… They smelled like shit.”

I scoffed a bit at the last statement, “I’m sure it wasn’t their hygiene Bill, Kate and Feng smell just fine.” I told him with confidence.

He chuckled a bit and replied, “Well, then it must be number one: they aren’t virgins and the fucker didn’t like that.”

“Then, what should I do?” I asked him, wondering if he had a solution in mind.

With that he laughed, “Woah there! I’m not going to advice ya with nothin’ specific. Better just to bring it up with the group and plan something out.”

The odd feeling of shame reemerged and I flinched.

_Talking with the others about this was definitely not something I could do right now._

I looked at Bill and shook my head, “No, I would prefer not to mention anything to them yet. With what Kate and Feng told everyone... it should be enough to bring the topic up for discussion. I can mention my incident if things get a bit worse.”

“Suit yourself, Patches. All I know is that it’s sometimes better to be safe than sorry. But don’t worry, it ain’t my place to mention what you’ve told me.”

With that I got up and rubbed my lower back, everything was sore and I really needed some rest, but I still had something to do. “Hey, where does Jake usually go to get salvage?” I asked Bill.

“About half a mile down east,” he replied with a slight tilt of his chin towards the direction, “I believe it’s an abandoned camp, but I’m not too sure since I’ve never been there.”

“I guess I’ll go check it out. It’s not like I can get too lost either way” I said with a smile, “Thanks Bill.”

He grunted as he returned to his laying position, fixing his beret atop of his eyes with his cigarette still grasped on the side of his mouth. I really wanted to remind him about the dangers of smoking those things, but I figured I should leave it for another time. Besides, there’s very few things any of us could enjoy in this place and it bought me a tiny bit of joy that Bill had something to look forward to.

 

* * *

 

I was never the best with directions but I found the abandoned camp with little difficulty. It looked almost identical to ours with the exception of our little makeshift tents, but the campfire and two adjacent shacks were very similar.

There was old camping gear and empty food cans laying across the floor. I went up to the ash-filled pit and noticed small embers. Was someone still using this place?

“Who’s there?” I heard Jake say from one of the shacks.

I lifted my hands up a bit, “It’s just me, Claudette. No need to worry!” I replied.

I saw him peek his head out from the left shack and look a bit taken aback. He straightened himself out a bit and looked around, like if he was expecting someone else to be there.

I giggled a bit, “Don’t worry, it’s just me.” I took a few steps toward him. “I just wanted to tell you thanks for what you did a while ago… with the Hillbilly.”

He looked at me and didn’t say a word for a moment, “Uh, no problem… He was trying to-”

“-rip my pants off!” I nervously chuckled, “Yeah, I know. Kinda weird.”

“I think that’s more than weird, Claudette. He was intent on hurting you in more ways than one.” He told me in all seriousness.

“But he didn’t,” I told him with a wiggle of my index finger and a smile, “because my amazing friend was there to help me!” I grinned.

“Um, yeah, sure.” He replied while he scratched the back of his head. I think I got him a bit uncomfortable with the friend part.

Jake was perhaps the most antisocial of us all. Although I rarely spoke to anyone back when I first arrived I didn’t find it too difficult to grow close to everyone, some more than others. But he just never seemed to warm up to any of us. While everyone else would gather around the campfire and talk or eat, he rarely stayed around, if at all. He would stick around for me to patch him up after a bad trial but other than that he hardly spoke a word to anyone else. Regardless, he always seemed to have my back when we had trials together- never leaving me alone even if I stuck around to make sure everyone made it out alive.

As we stood without saying a word to each other I really contemplated giving him hug. Everyone was used to my acts of affection by now and would usually return in kind: whether it be a really tight hug from Meg, a hand squeeze from Dwight, a hair ruffle from Ace, or even a gentle shoulder pat from Bill, everyone enjoyed some form of physical contact with me. But Jake, quite frankly, scared me. It wasn’t like he was a grouchy guy, he just seemed like the type of guy that preferred to stay at arms lengths, quite literally.

“So, any idea why he would try to hurt you that way?” Jake finally said, breaking my train of thought.

“Um, not really… Well... Bill said it was probably because of one thing or another.” I told him, too embarrassed to elaborate.

He cocked an eyebrow, “Such as?”

 _Darn it_. “Oh, haha, you know… sex stuff.” I told him, fully aware with how childish I sounded.

His expression didn’t change one bit, “No, I don’t know. I never really thought about the killers and sex alongside, so…”

I laughed out loud, “I know! I know! It’s just, kinda embarrassing to mention it, but well… Bill said that Feng and Kate told everyone that the Hillbilly had sniffed them but he didn’t do anything else, and them not being, you know, virgins might have been the cause...”

“How does Bill know you’re a virgin?” He told me with slightly suspicious eyes.

Almost immediately I could feel my cheeks burning! I might have dark, ebony skin but I’m pretty certain I looked like a summer-picked tomato by now.

“Nevermind.” He quickly mumbled as he looked away, more than likely out of his own embarrassment.

At this point, I have no idea what I could say to break the awkwardness of the situation: should I stay to talk a bit or should I just call it a night and leave?

“So, what happens if you run against him again?” Jake said, turning to me with some concern in his eyes.

Now it was my turn to scratch the back of my neck and nervously chuckle, “Um, no idea. But I hope I get stuck with you again.” I tried to say with a smile even though I knew he wasn’t in the mood to joke.

He sighed with a slight limp of his shoulders. “Claudette, I can’t guarantee I’ll be with you if that happens. I wish I had control over that, but-”

“Hey! No!” I told him as I hurried over to him and grabbed his hands without thinking, “I was joking! I-I can’t put that burden on you Jake. I’m so sorry if I made you feel like you had some responsibility for my safety.” I gave him a small smile and tried to look him in the eyes but I noticed that they were fixed on his hands, which were held in mine.

I started blushing and willed myself to let his hands go, but not without feeling a slight grab from him, like if he didn’t want to let go…

“It’s not a burden.” He told me as he looked me dead-on.

Our faces were so much closer than they had ever been that I finally noticed that his eyes weren’t dark brown, but rather a lovely shade of honey. They definitely accented his already handsome face.

“I’ll think of something, I promise.” He told me with a strong tone of determination.

I couldn’t help but grin at the fact that he actually cared about me, even if it was out of pure comradery.

Before I could give him my thanks, again, he disappeared.

I blinked a few times to adjust my eyes at his absence. I sighed. I turned to head back to the group camp in hopes that just maybe, I could finally get some rest.


	2. Family

“Ew, Kate. Gross!” Meg blurted out as she walked alongside Kate.

“Uh-huh, ya’ said it, girl.” Kate replied as she looked at the young red-head next to her, “But honestly, it ain’t like it’s the first time a big, bad man had gotten a lil’ frisky with me.”

Meg abruptly stopped as her face contorted with disgust, making Kate draw out a laugh.

“Oh God, please don’t elaborate on that.” Meg said as she shook her head and continued walking.

Kate let out another laugh, “Oh trust me, you’d love to hear the story. It was back when I tried to hitchhike to Nashville from Memphis, right along I-40 and this _cute_ , lil’ beige pick-up holla’d at me and-“

“Ooooh no. Stop, dude. Stop.” Meg raised her right hand at her, expecting to be obeyed.

“Oh come on Meg,” Kate told her as she nudged her shoulder, “I know that underneath that tomboy persona of yours,” she said flicking the front of Meg’s black cap, “you are _dying_ to be taken by a man with big, strong arms.”

Meg swatted the blonde’s hand away and scrunched her nose, “I die just fine, thank you.”

Kate gave her an fake, innocent smile, “Ya’ know it’s true.”

“You know what, sure. Let’s assume you’re right. I want some sweaty, bulging guy to pound me senseless!” Meg shouted as she dramatically threw her arms up. “But no way in HELL would it be the freakin’ redneck bastard!”

“Good Lord, girl, no!” Kate playfully pushed her, “Even for someone as seasoned as me that whole ordeal was just… wrong.”

“Well then why the hell are you comparing it to some bang-bus story of you and some country guy?!” Meg replied frustratingly.

Kate stopped and stood there pensively.

“Exactly.” Meg continued, finally looking around them to check if they were in the correct location.

“I guess I’m just trying to make it seem, I dunno’… not so bad.” Kate murmured.

Meg turned to her and squinted her eyes in confusion, “What?”

Kate started walking again, letting herself sway to the sides, “It felt mighty awful bein’ grabbed by that… thing. Then when he started proddin’ at my hoo-ha it was…” she said with a shaky sigh. “I don’t think I eva’ felt that helpless…”

The fog around them started moving a little and Meg felt a slight chill flush her body- she felt like shit now.

“Jesus, Kate. I’m sorry. I didn’t think it was that bad- I mean, you didn’t make it seem, like, super horrible.” Meg apologized as she went up to Kate and hugged her.

Despite being unbearably annoying at times, Meg saw Kate as the big sister she never had but always wanted. And just like older sisters, Kate sometimes knew Meg better than she did herself, including the whole ‘taken by a big, strong man’ but no way would Meg ever admit that to her.

“It’s all right, girl, no need to force ya’self to comfort me.” Kate giggled, reciprocating the hug.  
Meg smiled as she rested her head on the taller woman’s shoulder, “...But, like, please don’t ever say hoo-ha again.”

If there had been any forest creatures surrounding them, Meg was certain the shrilling laughter of Kate would have forced them to migrate right then and there. God damn if she didn’t sound like a banshee, scarring off everything around her.

In the far distance, however, a jarring, masked figure stood in anticipation. The bloody cleaver that usually hung in his hands was placed against a tree. Never had anything aggravated him as much as the noises the golden-haired woman made, especially when it disrupted his watch of the tiny, blood-haired one.

She was a great distraction, though not as much as the other two, but soon, he’d find a way to make them disappear.

 

* * *

  
After gathering the firewood they needed, Meg and Kate had made their way back to the camp.

“Nope, still doesn’t convince me, Kate. Jeans are fine if you’re planning on making your ass look bigger than it is, but for me, they’re my own worst enemy.” Meg loudly declared as her and Kate emerged from the woods.

“Well if you just tried ‘em you’d say otherwise!” Kate told her as she plopped herself down on one of the logs.

“Ha! Me? In mini-shorts?” Meg snorted, she shook her head and threw the pile of firewood she held in her arms next to the firepit.

“Well, here ya go, Tapp. Shitload of wood like you wanted!” Meg shouted to Detective Tapp who was crouched in front of the fire with Claudette tending to his wounds.

He groaned a bit as she finished closing the large gash on his right shoulder, “I’m so sorry! Just need to pour some water on it…” The botanist told him as she concentrated on her task.

“Damn, bad run?” Meg asked him as she approached them, trying to take a better look at his wound.

“No shit, Thomas. These damn wounds are getting ridiculous.” He groaned as Claudette started pouring water onto his entire shoulder.

“Indeed,” Claudette started, “it seems that if we escape injured the damage doesn’t disappear as quick as before. It’s getting a bit worrisome, especially since Feng came back with a sprained ankle and Laurie and Quentin both had their shoulders dislocated.” She sighed defeated, “I’m only a botanist, I-I don’t-“

“You’re doing just fine, kid. Don’t sweat it.” Tapp told her as he lifted himself up.

“Yeah, Claudette, without you we’d be as useless as a headless chicken!” Kate said as she got up to help Tapp with his tattered shirt, “Only thing we’re missin’ is a tailor.” She added.

“Where’s everybody else?” Said Meg as she sat down next to Claudette who was putting away her bloodied medical tools.

“Jake, Dwight, Ace, and Bill disappeared for a trial. I sent Laurie and Quentin to rest in the tool shack.” Claudette said as she wiped down her hands with a wet cloth, “Nea went to fetch some food and David is helping Feng with her injuries.”

Once Kate helped Tapp settle down onto a log, the four survivors stayed sitting in silence.

Meg couldn’t help but notice the tired look on her best friend’s face. She was always meek with her skills, saying that she was only an amateur botanist and that if she could figure out how to tend to the most gruesome wounds so can anyone. Claudette was the groups most appreciated companion, always looked for in their times of need from a small cut to a more personal matter such as Meg’s daddy issues. But lately it appeared like this place was finally taking a toll on her.

It seemed as if it was ages ago that Meg had met her now dearest friend. She was so shy and scared that Dwight and her made the worst teammates possible, granted they were the _only_ teammates she had… oh, and Jake, but he was sometimes a punk-ass. The four of them made an awkward group but somehow they made it work. Eventually others started appearing in this never-ending nightmare, but the Three Musketeers stuck close and became almost inseparable. Almost.

Everything started changing once Kate appeared. Dwight got so distracted when he first saw her in a trial that he didn’t notice when the Pig Girl was running at him, knife in hand. The moment Kate unhooked him was the very same moment he became hooked on her, as corny as it sounds.

Of course, when he isn’t a strong, courageous leader, Dwight is a stuttering loser. He would always shut down when Kate was nearby that- after one too many blown generators, Meg lost her patience and decided to take matters into her own hands.

No one was quite sure what happened but after Meg had pulled the southern belle aside to have a “stern” talk they started spending more time together. Well, actually, only one person knew, Claudette.

The red-head had confided in her that her plan was simple: befriend blondie, brainwash blondie into liking Loser, get Loser laid by blondie, and then bada-bing bada-boom, Loser could finally stop being, well, a loser. Claudette couldn’t help but laugh at Meg’s flimsy demonstration of her master plan, but she eventually told her to give it a try since it seemed harmless.

Now, Meg spent more time with Kate, Nea, and Feng trying to scavenge for necessities, while Dwight spent most of his time managing the camp alongside Tapp, and of course, becoming closer with the rest of the guys… except Jake, because he was still a punk-ass. And Claudette took the role of whatever was needed the most: medic and cook. Lately though, she was spending more time preoccupied with the newcomers Laurie and Quentin, especially since Quentin was still just a kid of 17.

But still, at the end of the “day” they usually find each other and huddle closely in front of the campfire, talking about everything and nothing all at once, just like when it was just the three of them… and the punk-ass of Jake, but he was becoming an even bigger loner as of late, so Meg usually dismissed him.

“Where da’ grub at?” David’s booming voice broke everyone’s concentration, “I’m bloody starvin’ ‘n I gotta feed me girl.”

“Oh shut up,” Feng told him as the two approached the center, David supporting her as she limped.

“I am not a child, I can feed myself.” The ex-gamer said as she lightly pushed him away to get seated next to Meg.

“Right, ‘n ya’ didn’t bloody fall on your arse a while back?” David replied as he started getting himself settled on the floor next to her.

He shifted himself so that his right shoulder settled against the edge of the log and gently moved Feng’s left foot to lay on top of it, “Feels bet’a, luv?” he asked her.

She moaned a bit in pain as she scooted herself a bit forward, “Yes. Thanks.”

Before Kate could comment on how love-struck David seemed to be at that moment, Nea, Bill, and Dwight appeared from the thick forest behind them.

“H-hey guys!” Dwight greeted everyone as he walked over, almost tripping on an uprooted tree root.

“Here,” Nea said as she walked to Claudette with a full backpack in hand, “you got lucky today. I was able to find a crate full of canned food.” She said as she placed the backpack on the floor and opened it, revealing about a dozen beat up but rust-free cans.

“Wow! That’s great Nea!” Claudette happily told her as she began shifting thru the bag and taking out the cans.

“Awesome!” Meg said as she greedily took the cans from Claudette’s hands, but stopped as she looked around for a can opener or knife.

Nea chuckled and handed her an old, rusted can opener, “It might not work too well but it was all I could find.”

Meg smiled up at her, “Thanks Nea! Now lets see what we got…” she said as she started opening the largest can. “Aaaand… it’s green beans… yuck.”

“I’ll take that.” Detective Tapp said as he got up and grabbed the can with his good arm, “Haven’t had these in ages!”

Meg gave him a funny look and continued to open the rest of the cans, distributing two to each survivor.

By the time Meg finished, almost everyone was seated around the campfire. Laurie and Quentin emerged from the tool shack and Ace stumbled to them with a slightly broken hand. Everyone sat quietly as they ate out of their cans with nothing but their fingers.

Claudette hadn’t eaten much as she looked pensively at her food, finally she looked up, “Where’s Jake?”

“He stayed behind. He said he had to check something out but I don’t know if the Huntress got him.” Ace said as he chewed on his mixed veggies.

“Ah, he’s fine.” Bill commented while he lit his cigarette, having already finished his can of beans.

Meg was impatiently trying to get the last few drops of juice from her empty fruit cocktail can, “He probably got back a while ago but went to be a loner, like always.”

“Or I just got back.” Jake responded from behind Meg and Claudette, causing the former to drop her can from surprise. She crossed her arms and sent a death stare at Jake.

“Jake, sit!” Claudette told him as she got up to offer him her seat.

“It’s fine. I’ll just take a can and leave.” He said as he reached for a closed can that was next to Meg.

“Nope,” Meg said as she quickly snatched the can, “either you stay and eat or you don’t eat at all.”

“Guess I’ll starve.” Jake replied as he maintained his stoic expression.

Ace and David snickered and Dwight stood up, “C-come on Jake, you know what they say, a family that eats together, stays together.”

Jake cocked an eyebrow at the neck-tied man, “We aren’t family.”

There was a flash of hurt in Dwight’s eyes but it was soon masked by the sound of everyone shifting in their seats at the sudden tension in the atmosphere. Things rarely had to get dramatic to make most of the group on edge in an already unnerving place.

“But we’re the best damn thing ya got in this shithole, now sit.” Bill said as he remained in his seat next to Tapp, who nodded his head in agreement as he ate a long strand of green bean.

Jake looked at Bill with weary eyes and then turned to Claudette who gave him a small smile, obviously a bit uncomfortable.

He reached out an open hand to Meg, who was smirking like a snobby child. She hovered the can over his hand and let it fall.

“Hope you like green beans.” The red-head said as she cocked her eyebrows at him, just like he had done to Dwight.

Jake slowly inhaled as if he was trying to keep himself in check, “Love them.”

Claudette lightly grabbed his arm and guided him to sit down in her seat, nestled between Meg and Nea. He did nothing but comply.

Dwight sat back down in his seat and went back to awkwardly eating his can of creamed corn.

“I’m gonna go get us some water, I’ll be right back.” Claudette said as she practically skipped to the supplies shack.

As she opened the creaking, rusted door of the room she looked back at the group. _Definitely the best thing._ She thought with a smile, but not before letting herself have a second glance at Jake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I decided I only want Jake and Claudette to have a first person POV and the rest would have a third person, omniscient POV. My reason being that they're the protagonists.
> 
> Thoughts?


	3. Heartbeat

“Does she always stay around us when we’re hooked?” The young kid asked me, I couldn’t remember his name, but right now it didn’t really matter.

“Sometimes, if they’re looking to secure a sacrifice.” I explained to him.

We were crouched behind a large boulder, anticipating an opportunity to get to David, but the Hag stayed patrolling the area.

“Come on, there’s no use sticking around. We can’t save him.” I told him as I turned to look behind us. There was only two generators left and from the looks of the flood lights around us, they must be on the other end of the map.

I started walking to the furthest east sector, if David doesn’t try to escape we should have just enough time to fix one gen.

“But the others said not to leave anyone when they’re hooked.” The kid said as he reluctantly followed me.

I exhaled, “Not when the killers are patrolling them like that. You end up wasting time.”

“Oh…” I heard him say as I started to jog, with the Hag being adamant to sacrifice David there was no point in keeping a slow pace.

The kid eventually matched my pace, “So they have some quota to make?” he asked me as I saw the unlit flood lights in the distance.

“Don’t know.” I replied, getting a little annoyed with his questions. Last thing I needed was to be babysitting this kid.

We finally got to the generator and I wasted no time in fixing it, and to our luck, we heard one being powered on about 200 feet from our position. _One more to go_.

“That was Nea, right?” the kid asked me as he went to take a look in the gen’s direction, “Should I go find her so she can help us fix this one?”

“No. She’ll find her way over. Go on the other side and start stripping the wires.” I told him, more than likely sounding a bit pissed.

“Okay,” he said as he actually listened to me, “but, um, which ones do I strip?”

I heavily sighed, “Do the blue ones for now.”

“Okay, okay… but like…” he said, really starting to piss me off.

“What?” I told him as I stared right at him, not caring if I scared him or not.

He widened his eyes a bit and seemed reluctant to say anything, “…I’m, uh, colorblind.”

I stopped what I was doing and deeply inhaled, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me…”

He nervously chuckled, “Yeeeah, sorry. But it’s ok, I’ll strip the ones that aren’t red or yellow. Those I can see.” He said as he started working on the wires but almost immediately blew out a fuse and fell backwards from the small explosion.

Right then, Nea jumped over the window adjacent to us and I relaxed a bit. _We can finally get this done._

“Shit,” Nea breathed out as she took a few steps back, “do we leave or…?”

“The Hag is patrolling David, we’ll be fine as long as we hurry up.” I told her without taking my eyes off the generator, we were about 50% done, no time to stop.

“Alright, let’s see here…” she mumbled to herself.

After a few seconds we were almost done when we heard that fucking sound in the sky, David had finally died.

“What the _fuck_?” the kid whispered as he stared at the darkening sky, eyes widening in horror.

“It’s the Entity, have you never seen it?” Nea asked him as she stopped working on the gen and looked at him with concern.

The kid just shook his head while he watched in horror the whole sacrifice scenario. He’d get used to it eventually.

The generator finally started alongside the sound of the exit gates powering up. It was loud, but I could hear my heartbeat quickening, the Hag was near.

“Let’s go!” Nea said as she grabbed the kid by the arm and yanked him up, he was still frozen in fear.

I took off running towards the exit where David was hooked in front of. Half-way there I heard the kid scream and saw his fallen, blood aura not too far behind me.

“Fuck.” I said under my breath, _He’s done for_.

I got to the gate and started messing with the switch, fucking thing was somehow the most annoying part of the match right now.

I heard my heart start pounding again and I was certain that the Hag was going to hook the kid in the same one as David.

The gates finally creaked open but I was getting more agitated. I shouldn’t have been this concerned about the kid, especially when I knew he had to get used to this shitty place, but still…

Claudette’s soft voice kept playing in my mind, _‘We can’t leave them behind. They’re our friends.’_

The gate was wide open at this point but instead of immediately running out like I usually did, I stood still, contemplating.

 _It’s fucking useless_ , I told myself, _If I stay behind to try to get him I’ll end up getting hurt or killed._

 _‘Please Jake, stay?’_ I heard Claudette’s trembling voice once again. It was exactly what she had said the first time we had gone up against the Trapper. Meg had gotten herself stuck in one of his traps and Dwight was fighting off the Entity’s claws at the farthest end of the farm.

We had successfully opened the gates and I was almost out of the fucking place, but her tear-stricken face knocked the air out of me. Since then, I couldn’t stand looking at her cry… it bothered me too much.

For the first time since, I turned around and made my way to help someone without Claudette.

 

* * *

 

There was a window facing directly in front of the hook from where I was standing, _T_ _he Hag will be able to see the gates open and it might make her more hostile. If I could find Nea I can make enough of a distraction to allow her to grab the kid and run._

Before I had time to crouch under the window, the Hag appeared. She had the kid on her shoulder as he sobbed and pleaded to be let go. Then, she threw him onto the hook and he let out a horrible scream, my breath actually hitched.

The Hag turned to me and emitted a low growl, sounding almost mockingly.

“Oh God! Please! It hurts!” The kid yelled out as tears and snot ran down his face.

I held the Hag’s gaze and yelled out, “Don’t fight against it, kid. You’ll just call the Entity quicker. Stay calm.”

I slowly moved my way to the right, out of the window’s view.

Between the rotted, wooden beams I could see the Hag follow my movement, I had to try to keep her attention and hope Nea was around to sneak behind her.

A few moments passed as I kept shifting around that I heard the kid yell out again.

“No! Get away from me! God, please, no!” I heard him screaming, certain that the Entity’s spider-like claws were emerging from the hook.

_Fuck!_

Suddenly, the Hag turned behind and jumped. I couldn’t see too well through the small slits but I heard Nea yell and the heavy thud of a pallet.

Without much time to think, I ran back to the window and vaulted over.

The Hag was less than five feet away from the kid and in a split second she swiped her claws at me. She missed.

Time seemed to slow down as I looked back at kid, he was frantically struggling against the demonic claws and the Hag dashed towards me.

I threw myself over the window.

I landed roughly on the dirt and scrambled myself up, the Hag stayed on the other side and licked her bloody claws. From the left corner I saw Nea stumble towards me, crying and tightly grasping her stomach as blood stained her grey shirt.

Without much of a choice, I ran to her, placed her left arm over my neck and hurried to the exit gates. I willed myself to not look back.

“Jake! No! Come back! PLEASE!” I heard the kid yell out to me before we ran past the exit hallway. Nea let out a loud sob.

We kept running as fast as we could even though we were safely outside the trial. My breathing became heavy and labored as I began giving to Nea’s weight, she had lost her strength and let herself collapse.

Without much strength of my own, I abruptly kneeled down, trying not to let Nea land too hard.

She gasped out another sob as she rolled onto her back, “I can’t do this anymore!” she cried out, covering her face with her bloodied hands, “I can’t...”

I stayed on my knees, suddenly overtaken by immense pain on my chest. _Huh, the bitch got me after all._

Having probably lost a lot of blood, I fell face down on the forest floor, the sound of Nea’s cries slowly drifting away until all I saw was black.

 

* * *

 

You can’t sleep in a nightmare, no matter how hard you try.

The fear never lets you… but we weren’t in our world, stuck in a dream we couldn’t wake up from. We were somewhere far worse, I have no fucking clue where, but it’s someplace beyond anything we ever hoped existed.

Sometimes, you could get a small feeling of being rested, but often times you just let your eyes stay shut and used your imagination as a pathetic substitute for a dream.

I rarely allowed myself to think of the world before I came here: my parents, my brother, my small cabin in the outskirts of Anchorage. It was pointless, really.

But as fucked up as it sounded, I almost always allowed myself to think of Claudette. Her face, her body, her mouth…

At first, I felt like the biggest fucking creep whenever I thought of her and the way she moved about. Her hips swaying to the side as she walked in front of me, or the roundness of her ass as she crouched past a killer.

Everything about her made me feel like I was going insane until one day, after helping her patch the hook’s wound on her shoulder, I stopped giving a fuck.

She had asked me to take off her pink, buttoned up blouse and cut her bra strap. The gash extended from her right shoulder blade to the top of her breast. I should have allowed Meg to help her, especially since she was standing behind me panicking. Instead, I told her to go help Dwight fix the last generator while I stood above Claudette and acted like I knew shit about tending to such a big, fucking wound.

Claudette had tried to keep her painful moans muffled by grabbing ahold of my leg but missed and landed on my crotch. She was too distracted to realize where her hand was and gave it a small squeeze. With that amazingly new sensation and the view I had of her pink, lace bra… I broke any sense of sanity I had left.

Whether she realized her mistake or not was completely unknown to me as I froze. The exit gates powered on and I mumbled something about just getting out since we were less than 10 feet away. She agreed but still made us wait for Meg and Dwight to escape.

Immediately after we arrived back at the camp I gave a shitty excuse about getting some thing or another and found the furthest spot to become the most despicable human at that moment.

Since then, she is all I think about on most days. And honestly, I don’t care to stop.

It isn’t like anything would ever happen… at least, I forced myself to accept nothing would happen between us.

So as I lingered in this black state of mind, I allowed myself to think of Claudette. I thought of the soft caresses she gives when we’re hurt and imagined them being directed to my cheeks, the way my mother used to do when I was a child and needed comforting.

I could feel the touch and relaxed into it. But they started becoming more… painful? I then felt a sudden sting and jerked awake.

“Rise and shine, handsome!”

I groaned, “Fuck off, Ace.”

I opened my eyes and saw Ace crouching next to me with that dumb fucking smile he always had.

“Ha! You’re alive! Now get up. Vamonos!” He said as he slapped my chest with the back of his hand.

The pain nearly shocked in surprise, “Son of a-“

“Ey, ey, leave my mother out of this, muchacho. Now get up.” He said and offered me his hand. I reluctantly accepted it.

“Fuck,” I breathed out as he helped pull me up on my feet, “where’s Nea?” I said looking at the spot she was last on.

“She’s already back at camp. Came crying about you not waking up so they sent me to come get you. Feelin’ alright?” he told me with a rough squeeze on my shoulders.

I didn’t reply, instead I gave him my most pissed off look as I felt my blood caking on my chest.

“Beautiful. Now let’s go get ya fixed up.” He said as he nudged me towards the camp.

 

* * *

  
As soon as we arrived at the camp Dwight came running up to us.

“J-jake! What happened?! A-a-are you okay?” He asked as he tried to grab my arm.

“I’m fine.” I told him as I moved him aside. I was only here to get patched up by Claudette and then head back to my own camp for some peace and quiet.

“B-but Nea said you p-passed out. Jake!” he yelled at me and grabbed my shoulder.

I quickly turned to him and tried to muster my most threatening voice, as tired as I was, “I said I’m fine.”

He didn’t even flinch, “…no one’s ever passed out… t-that’s just… it can’t be possible.”

I sighed. He was right, I actually felt myself knock out and now worry started to creep in, but I wouldn’t let it show.

“Yeah, I know.” I finally replied and turned back towards the fire pit where Claudette was tending to Nea.

As I approached them Nea saw me and slowly got up with a wince, “Jake.”

I nodded my head in recognition, not really in the mood to start another conversation, and sat down behind Claudette. Just being near her caused me to relax.

Claudette turned to face me and immediately started grabbing at my shirt, “Where’s the injury? Nea said you were bleeding out.” She said with a small gasp as she saw the large blood stain cover most of my chest.

Her dark brown eyes crinkled with concern, almost like she wanted to cry.

I grabbed her hand that held the edge of my shirt, “I’m okay, Claudette. Don’t worry.” I softly told her.

“T-the wounds… t-they’re…” she started stuttering, sounding like Dwight. “…They’re getting so much worse…” she whispered as she closed her eyes.

I wanted to tell her she was wrong but the dull aching pain in my chest proved otherwise. Had it been like before, the cut would have completely disappeared by now. So, I did the next best thing I could think of…

I very gently grabbed her chin to make her look up at me. She did and her big, brown eyes had tears at the edge of them.

“Hey,” I whispered to her, “we’ll be fine.”

My thumb slowly rubbed her chin, feeling the softness contrast my calloused finger.

She blinked her eyes twice and then smiled at me…

My heart skipped a fucking beat... _Beautiful_.


	4. Lavender

“Just do it.” Meg groaned out.

“N-no! H-how would I- n-no, Meg. I-I can’t.” Dwight replied nervously.

“Dude, how do you expect her to notice you if you keep being such a wimp?” Meg said aloud as she shifted in Claudette’s lap.

The three of them were sitting in front of the campfire: Claudette had her legs bent to allow Meg to rest on her lap while she tried to braid her hair, Dwight sat to the right of Claudette with his legs straightened as he massaged Meg’s calves, and Meg was comfortably resting with her eyes closed.

“O-okay, but even i-if I pull her a-aside, w-what would I-I do next?” The messy-haired man asked as he stopped massaging Meg and looked at her, adjusting his glasses.

“Simple. Kiss her.” The red-head nonchalantly replied with a lazy wave of her hand and her eyes still closed.

“W-w-what?!” Dwight stuttered out as he anxiously looked around hoping no one else had heard.

Around this time of the “day” the camp was at peace.

Bill, Tapp, and Ace were far off near the tents, lounging on makeshift hammocks, smoking a pack of cigarettes- which Tapp had reluctantly accepted since he quit five years ago, and exchanging stories about Vietnam, murder investigations, and the Argentinian Dirty War.

Kate and Nea were in their shared tent with Quentin, keeping him distracted from the traumatic event of dying a few days ago by trying to sew new clothes for the group. But at this point, everyone suspected the young teen was taking advantage of his victimhood to relish in the attention of the older women.

David and Feng were in their tent- which they finally moved away from the rest, having sex… or…very unlikely but amusingly imagined by the others… wrestling.

Laurie was in the supply shack, organizing all the things in alphabetical order. She had recently ran a trial against her brother and had been on edge since, so she kept herself busy with cleaning and organizing both sheds.

And finally, Jake was nowhere to be seen. More than likely in his own, one-man camp salvaging whatever he could find.

Once Dwight was convinced no one else had heard Meg, he sighed, “B-b-but… H-how do I kiss?”

Sometimes, Dwight made it painfully obvious he was a virgin.

Meg scoffed, “You know, smack your lips together, move ‘em around. Maybe add a little tongue action. Ya know, the works.”

And other times, Meg did as well…

Claudette let out a giggle, “I don’t think that’s how you’re suppose to kiss, Meg.”

“Hey, I’m just describing what I see Feng and King do.” Meg replied, finally opening her eyes and looking at Dwight, “I didn’t tell you to stop, peasant.”

Dwight quickly looked back at Meg’s legs, “Oh! S-sorry!” he said as he resumed his massaging.

Meg smiled and shook her head, Dwight really had to learn to say no.

Claudette sadly sighed as she finished Meg’s second braid.

“Hey, what’s wrong, buttercup?” Meg asked her with concern, lifting herself from her friend’s lap, careful not to let her legs slip from Dwight’s hands.

“It’s just, things are starting to change for the worse lately and,” Claudette sighed again, this time more mournful than the last, “…with the way our injuries are prolonging…” she looked up at her friends. “…what if we actually start dying?”

“Alrighty,” Meg said as she rolled herself to the side and onto her stomach, “Dwight, we gotta sandwich her.” She said in a very serious tone as she crawled to the left side of Claudette.

“Okay!” Dwight replied with a strong nod and scooted closer to Claudette, taking her right hand into his.

Meg nestled close to her friend- her soul sister, and held her left arm tightly between hers.

“Hey, little missy, if we’re gonna die, then at least we’ll die together.” The young red-head said with a smile.

“T-that sounds m-morbid… but t-true.” Dwight commented as he gave Claudette’s hand a gentle squeeze and smiled.

Claudette laughed, “I love you guys.”

“We love you, too.” Dwight replied and rested his head on her shoulder.

“Pfft, but I love you the most.” Meg snickered and snuggled her head on Claudette’s left shoulder.

The three friends- the Three Musketeers, stayed like that for what seemed like forever.

“Mind if I join?” Laurie playfully asked as she snapped them out of their warm, fuzzy moment.

“Oh, of course!” Claudette said with a grin.

Laurie chuckled and shook her head as she took a seat on the log in front of them. “It’s okay… it just seems like you three are getting real warmed up,” she said as she held her arms close to her abdomen,” and this place is getting a bit too cold for my comfort.”

“Huh,” Meg said as she let go of Claudette’s arm and got up, “you’re right. It’s a bit colder than usual…” She said, slowly scanning the area with squinted eyes.

“The fog is thickening.” Jake said from behind them, making Claudette jump a bit.

“Well, well. The great king Jake came out of his castle to visit his lowly friends.” Meg teasingly told him as she crossed her arms, partly to assert dominance and the other part because she started to feel cold.

“I came to drop this off.” Jake said as he walked over to Dwight- who was still snuggled close to Claudette, and handed him over an old, yellow walkie-talkie. “I was able to make it turn on but there’s no signal.”

Claudette smiled widely and looked up at Jake, but his gaze stayed fixed on Dwight, not even giving her a quick glance. Her smile slowly faded.

Dwight let go of Claudette and quickly stood up, “J-j-jake! T-this is a-amazing!” he shouted.

“Wait, how did you manage to turn it on? I thought batteries didn’t work outside of trials?” Laurie asked as she walked over to see the walkie-talkie.

“They do now.” Jake replied as he turned to face her.

“Do you think we could make the radio turn on? I just dusted it.” Laurie said as she looked over at the tool shack. “There are a few batteries in there, as well as a small generator.” She added excitedly.

Jake shrugged his shoulders, “No harm in trying.”

“I-I’m going to s-show this to the guys.” Dwight quickly said as he took off running towards the three older men, nearly tripping on a small pebble.

“Hey! You better not break it!” Meg yelled at him and he gave her a wave from afar to show her he was all right.

“I’ll go see if Kate and Nea can try their hands at making some sweaters.” Claudette told no one in particular as she pushed herself up.

Laurie smiled at Claudette, “Tell them I’m a medium. And that I prefer cashmere over cotton.”

Claudette smiled and nodded, “Will do! What about you Meg? What size do you prefer?”

“I usually wear medium but with the way they made Ace’s super-sized t-shirt, make it a small… extra small.” Meg replied as she started jogging in place and stretching, “In the meantime, I’m going for a run. Gotta get my blood flowing!”

With that, Meg took off running into the forest, quickly disappearing into the abnormally thick fog.

“I’ll be in the tool shed.” Laurie told Jake and walked away.

Claudette and Jake stood in awkward silence.

“So, I know you already have a thick jacket and all, but any requests for our personal seamstresses?” Claudette finally said as she gave him a small smile, bringing her arms closer to her chest to retain her warmth.

“No… but,” he replied as he starting taking off his jacket, “here.” He said as he held it out to her.

Claudette was taken back in surprise, _the_ lone wolf Jake, offering _her_ his jacket. It was nearly unbelievable.

“It’s fine! I’ll ask them to make me one.” She said as she waved her hands anxiously.

Without missing a beat, Jake stepped closer and tossed the jacket over her shoulders. She looked so tiny in it.

He tightened it at the front, “You can give it back once they make it then.” And with that he walked away to join Laurie.

Claudette had never had an interest in the boys she knew in her old life; flora and redwood trees and the pesky fusarium wilt fungus were far more interesting. Besides, her parents would have thrown a fit if she decided to date before graduating with at least her bachelors. ‘ _Books before boys!_ is what her father always said and her mother was persistent in that she waited until marriage to have any kind of relationship with a man. No, she couldn’t even fathom disappointing them in such a way.

But at that moment, with her heart racing faster than even the Clown could boast, she was willing to risk disappointment- just a tiny bit… if it meant that she could kiss Jake…

 

* * *

  
A sudden burst of nostalgia hit Meg as she sprinted through the thick forest. Running was her escape, her mobile safe space.

At 12 her father appeared at her and her mother’s broken down, front porch with a large bouquet of daisies and a big, brown teddy bear in hand, begging to be allowed back into their lives, to finally be the family Meg deserved. That same day he took them to the city’s largest park to have a family picnic and surprised her with a pair of brand-new running shoes. _‘I heard you like running, just like your old man!’_ he laughed as she hugged him tightly. She eagerly put them on and stood looking so proud. ‘ _Well, what are ya waiting for baby girl, show me what ya got! Make your daddy proud!’_ he told her before she took off running. She ran for nearly an hour, but with the adrenaline coursing through her fueled by her pure, innocent happiness, she could’ve ran for hours.

At 13 her father left to go buy some gasoline for the lawnmower and never came back. She stayed waiting on the front porch like he told her to, ‘ _Wait right here, Meg. I just need to pick up some gas at Leo’s. I’ll tell ya what, it’s too much of a nice day to spend it just cuttin’ the lawn, how about I take ya to your favorite park and we’ll have a race once we’re done.'_ Her mom said he got ran over crossing the street on his way back. So that night, she snuck out at 3 A.M. and ran to the park, _their_ park. She didn’t stop until the sun rose.

At 18 she had to take the bus to the other side of the city to pick up her mother’s medicine. 40 minutes into the hour long bus ride she saw her father. He was in a white minivan parked on the street, waving goodbye to a lady with a small child in her arms. ‘ _Bye daddy!’_ was what the little girl yelled as the light turned green. It took 2 hours for her to run back home after she picked up the four small bottles of pills, but she didn’t notice because as soon as she went to her room she cried herself to sleep.

At 19 she failed both of her finals and returned home to find her mom laying on the front porch. The tumors had spread to her spinal cord and she could no longer walk on her own. ‘ _It’ll just be for a semester momma, I promise._ ’ was what she last told her mother before she realized the thin, frail woman had already fallen asleep. The day felt too much like the one when she was 13, so she decided to take a run through the woods that lead to her favorite park because she didn’t want her mom to hear her cry. She ran for only 2 minutes that day but no one would have ever known since she never went back.

Now, if she had to list the pros of being stuck in this godforsaken place she would choose the following: meeting her friends, pissing off Jake, and having a good place to run… even if it was spooky.

Her legs started aching as she ran into a patch of lavender. She came to a halt and tried to catch her breath, her legs took a good beating during their last trial against Freddy at the elementary. Twice she landed wrong while jumping out the second floor window. _You’re losing your touch, Thomas. Better shape up!_ She told herself, mimicking her coach’s voice. Goddamn did she miss that old geezer.

A sudden chill crept up her spine, similar to the one she felt when she was with Kate a few days ago.

“Someone there?” she asked aloud. She knew that it sounded dumb asking such a rhetorical question but her gut feeling of being watched was overpowering.

It took her longer than expected to notice a shadowy figure leaning against a dead tree to her left side.

She froze.

“Who… who’s… there?” she was finally able to muster.

The figure moved away from the tree and appeared to pick something up from the ground. The thick fog was making it near impossible to make out anything.

Much to her horror, it started walking towards her, and less than 10 feet away stood The Trapper.

If it wasn’t for the adrenaline, Meg would have fainted right then and there. Never in all these endless months of being in this realm had anyone spotted a killer outside of the trials. The terrifying realization that the camp was never really the safe space they all thought it was hit her like a rogue wave and caused tears to seamlessly fall down her cheeks.

With two large strides, The Trapper closed the distance between them.

She didn’t dare move.

Her eyes stared straight ahead, looking at the bulging chest of the killer- his grimy, blood stained overalls moved with each of his deep, guttural breaths.

The moment she felt his large, calloused hand grab the left side of her face she let out a trembling gasp.

He steadily forced her to look up at him. His macabre mask caused her to let out a silent sob.

“Please…” she tried to speak, “…don’t kill me…”

He didn’t move.

“Not you.” He finally spoke in a very deep, husky voice.

He then moved her head to the right, where in the distance glowed the faint light of the campfire.

“Them.”

Her mind could no longer process anything- neither his ill-intended words nor the slow stroking of her bottom lip, as her eyes rolled up into their sockets.

Darkness, as many times before, engulfed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how to mark the story as on-going, and at this point I'm too scared to ask. >_<


	5. Weaknesses

“Do you think the killers would ever come by here?” Meg asked me aloud, almost absentmindedly.

“Well, we’ve been here for, what? Months?” I told her as I set aside my screwdriver and wrench, “And they’ve never been spotted, so I think it’s safe to say no.” I said with a smile.

Ever since she came back from her run she was way different. We kept asking her if anything had happened and she kept saying she was fine, that it was just the fog making her feel real uneasy. I kinda believed her since it was making me a bit tense as well but something in my gut said she was lying. So I kept persisting. I continuously asked her if she was okay and if she needed to talk until I finally made her annoyed enough to snap at me.

 _‘Jesus Christ Claudette, I said I was fine! Just drop it alright?!’_ She had yelled at me and it almost made me cry since it was the first time she had ever raised her voice like that… so angry.

When she took off to our tent I wanted to run after her, there was something screaming at me to keep pushing, no matter how mad she would get, but before I took a step Tapp had grabbed my shoulder, _‘Listen to her, Claudette. I know you think she’s lyin’ but if she’s sayin’ she’s fine then don’t push it.’_

So I listened to him.

Hours later, while I finally decided to organize my toolbox, she came up to me and apologized. I told her she didn’t need to, that I was the one that caused her to blow up and she replied with a smile, a _‘Yep!’_ and a minute long hug. But the gut feeling still lingered.

“Yeah, you’re right…” She finally replied, nodding her head but still looking off into the forest.

I snickered, “Girl, I’m always right!” I said with three finger snaps and my most stereotypical, older, black woman voice; just like my old aunt Christine.

She burst out laughing, “Oh my God, that voice!”

My heart fluttered with joy and relief. God, I really hated seeing my friends down. I pulled her in for a hug, and squeezed as tightly as I could- which meant not an awfully lot.

“Easy there Zena, you’re gonna pop me!” she said as she squeezed back.

I laughed, “Like the airhead that-“

 

* * *

 

As soon as I opened my eyes and saw the family home of Coldwind Farms, my heart sunk. _No, no… please, not here…_ I started to panic as I stood frozen in place. My legs and hands started trembling and my stomach churned.

A dozen scenarios played through my mind of how the Hillbilly would get to me... but I didn’t let myself imagine the rest.

“Claudette!” I heard Kate happily squeal, “For a secon’ there I thought ya were a scarecrow!”

I jumped and clasped my hands on my mouth to stop me from yelping in surprise. Kate wasn’t the most quiet of us but she always managed to leave trials with barely a scratch. I started to hope that luck would rub off on me right now.

She grabbed my arm and started walking towards the broken down home, almost as if we weren’t even in a trial. “But then I thought to myself, ‘Silly duck, there ain’t no scarecrows ‘round here!’”

I smiled a little but kept looking around and tried to keep my legs steady as we walked up into the house. I had to keep myself distracted, “Yeah, those things would creep me out.”

“Right? My uncle in west Texas had a nice ‘ole ranch that was full of ‘em,” she replied as we started ascending the stairs to the second floor, “and sometimes my momma would make me stay the summa’ there and I hated it.”

We got to the second floor and she pulled me along as she searched for the balcony, “Darn place is always so confusin’.” she muttered as we finally found the generator. “So anyways, I cried all night one time but then I told my lil’ self, ‘Kathleen Marie Denson ya’ gotta face ya’ fears straight on girl’ and so I grabbed my guitar an’ I marched right up to this tatta’d, old scarecrow an’ started singin’ _Ya Are My Sunshine_ to it!”

Hearing Kate tell her stories always made me smile. She loved to talk and I loved to listen, so we made a perfect pair. _‘Well I say, suga’ we oughta get married!’_ she would tell me after an hour long story or two. _‘But then we won’t get along so well!’_ I would reply and it always made her laugh. She was such a bright and happy person that I couldn’t think of anyone better to be with right now… well, except one person.

In the far distance we heard the Hillbilly’s chainsaw echo.

“Ugh, that ugly basta’d again…” she muttered under her breath. “Did I tell ya’ what happened last time I ran up against that monsta’?” Kate asked me as she peaked her head to the side and must have noticed how scared I was. “Hey, what’s wrong, suga’?” she said, immediately stopping her work on the generator.

I let out a shaky breath and tried to avoid looking at her, “I had a bad run with him last time, is all.”

She gasped, “Did he try sniffin’ your hoo-ha too?!”

I bit my bottom lip as my stomach started churning even worse, “Y-yeah.”

She shook her head in disbelief and disgust, “Oh my Lord! I do not know what has gotten into that thing! I swear they are gettin’ desperate or somethin’ to be tryin’ those things on us. Did he also toss ya’ aside afta’wards?”

I looked up at her as I fought with myself on whether or not I should tell her. But alongside my fear and disgust I started feeling that awful sense of shame.

“Yeah, he did.” I said as I cleared my throat and forced myself to keep separating the wires in my hand, _The blue ones go to the right and the red ones to the left…_

Before Kate could start talking again, we heard footsteps approaching us from the back. Dwight appeared around the corner, his toolbox in hand.

“K-kate! Claudette!” he said as he seemed to relax his shoulders, causing me to ease up a bit and smile at him. _It’s gonna be okay, Claudette. We’ll make it out of here alive and well!_ I tried cheering to myself.

“Hey Dwight! Glad seein’ ya handsome face ‘round here!” Kate told him with a grin.

Dwight almost tripped over a lifted board and started turning dark shades of red as he let out an awkward laugh. The sudden revving of the chainsaw caused us to stop still as it got closer underneath us but started fading towards the right, followed by a loud thud of a fallen pallet.

“T-that must be Jake.” Dwight said as he crouched next to me and started looking through his toolbox.

“You saw him?” I asked excitedly. He was here! He would keep me safe, just like last time, I was certain. The thought of him made most of my fear wash away and knowing he was close by made my heart jump with joy.

“Yeah, I-I saw him when we started, b-but he took off running before I could c-call out to him.” Dwight said as he started unscrewing the generator’s fuse box panel.

“Seems like he’s tryin’ to buy us some time then.” Kate commented with a smile, “No matta’ how much of a grumpy butt he is, he can be a sweetheart sometimes.”

I smiled at what she said and started stripping the red wires. My hands weren’t trembling so much anymore.

The three of us worked in silence, well sort of. Kate was humming _You Are My Sunshine_ while Dwight and I listened quietly. Her beautiful humming was helping my nerves an awful lot- and Dwight was smiling so sweetly, and before I knew it we were nearly done with the generator as the final two pistons started working. We then heard some boards creaking close by as Jake appeared around the same corner as Dwight, but he was breathing heavily, clutching his right arm.

“Don’t finish it.” He immediately said, leaning against the wall and groaning.

The three of us immediately stopped and Kate gave Dwight a confused look. We were so close, just a wire or two and the thing was going to start.

“W-why?” Dwight asked as he stood up and put his screwdriver in his back pocket.

“We need to make sure Claudette isn’t around.” Jake replied, slowly letting himself slide into a crouching position.

“Let me help you.” I told him, running over and untying the red handkerchief I had wrapped around my left arm, just for these types of injuries. His thick jacket didn’t let me see the extent of his wound but the large blood stain was enough to let me know it was bad.

Dwight made his way to us, still unsure of what Jake said, “O-okay… but why, e-exactly?”

“It’s fine Jake, let me patch you up and then we’ll finish it.” I told him as I started trying to find the best angle to wrap him in… and to avoid talking about the situation.

“No. You can’t let him see you.” Jake said as he grabbed my right hand, making me look at him, “We can’t risk letting him get to you like last time.” There was a great amount of concern in his honey colored eyes and it caused a small flurry of bittersweet feelings in me. It was nice to know he cared about me, but to see him even a tiny bit worried was upsetting. I didn’t want to be a burden to anyone, especially not to him.

“Last time?” Dwight asked, “W-what happened last time?”

I quickly remembered that I had talked to Dwight about it, but had omitted what happened.

“...You haven’t told them?” Jake said as he looked between me and Dwight… He was angry. That threw me off a bit. Why would he be mad that I didn’t tell them?

“Now wait a secon,’.” Kate finally said as she walked up to me, hands on her hips, “Ya weren’t tellin’ me the whole truth ‘bout him grabbin’ ya… were ya, Claudette?” She scoffed and crossed her arms with a hurt look.

Before I could confess or apologize, Jake spoke, “He tried to fucking rape her.” I winced. I could hear Kate’s gasp and Dwight sharply inhale, but I didn’t want to look at them in the eyes. I felt like I was suddenly naked, dirty.

“And if he gets to her this time…” Jake sighed.

“No! That thing ain’t layin’ a hand on her!” Kate yelled out but quickly hushed down, “Lord almighty, Claudette, why didn’t ya…” she shook her head and looked away. “Why didn’t ya tell me?” she said under her breath. Her pained voice pierced me, I wanted to apologize so bad right now.

“O-okay, okay… Alright.” Dwight said as he started looking over the balcony, across the fields. “There’s an exit straight ahead and the shack o-over there,” he said pointing to the left side, “h-has the basement. The killers rarely check in there unless they’ve hooked us or see us around there, s-so take her to hide inside while Kate and I finish this. T-then we’ll fix the rest that are furthest from the area and regroup once both gates are open.”

I didn’t have any time to double knot the handkerchief since Jake got up and pulled me before I could finish- before I could look to see Dwight’s betrayed expression.

 

* * *

  
Jake and I ran along the brick wall, hands clasped tightly together and hearts racing. I could see the shack Dwight mentioned in the distance and felt Jake pick up his pace. Not too long after, the sound of the generator on the balcony echoed through the fields.

We finally got to the shack and I had to stop to catch my breath. I was ok, it was ok, everything was going to be ok.

“Come on.” Jake told me as he adjusted his grip on my hand and gently pulled me towards the basement.

The red hue of the bloody room always made me shudder, but with the whole situation, I actually sighed in relief as we entered and Jake led me to the locker in the furthest, right corner.

“Hide here. I’ll come get you as soon as I can.” He told me as he reluctantly let go of my hand.

He stayed staring at me for a moment, as if he wanted to tell me something but was fighting within himself to say it. His mouth opened slightly and I bit my bottom lip, they weren’t by any means large or exotic, but they were mesmerizing. _Have they ever been kissed?_ I wondered.

I returned my gaze to his eyes and held it there as he brought up his left hand, hovering it near my right cheek. I never thought I would have wanted to be touched by someone so badly and almost leaned into him… but the sound of the Hillbilly’s chainsaw made me jump a bit. Jake lowered his hand and looked away. “I’ll see you in a bit.” he whispered.

And with that he turned around and left, disappearing at the stairs and leaving me to settle myself inside the locker. I was alone and a bit scared, but with my imagination running wild with all the ways I would have loved for him to have kissed me.

 

* * *

  
With the sound of each generator my heart would stop and the trembling of my hands would worsen. Once I heard the sound of the exit gates opening it became difficult to breathe but I willed myself to stay put and wait. Jake should have been coming any moment now and we would finally leave this horrible place without having to see the disgusting face of the Hillbilly.

…But he never came. No one did.

After what seemed like hours, my anxiety became unbearable, I had to get out of this locker, out of the basement, just out!

The trembling of my hands weren’t letting me grab the edge of the doors, so I started banging on them. Did I lock myself in? Was I going to be stuck in here until God-knows-when or would the Hillbilly eventually find me? Why wouldn’t these goddamn doors just open?! I started to cry. I couldn’t breathe and I couldn’t get out. And Jake wasn’t coming back for me… I was going to have to face the Hillbilly by myself.

At that last thought my panic took over and I threw my whole body against the doors, breaking them open and falling hard on my hands. I landed wrong and heard a loud crunch, then an intense pain shot through out my entire left arm. I bit down hard on my right hand to stop myself from crying out.

And then my heart started beating louder.

I couldn’t allow myself to waste any time, so I frantically scrambled to the stairs, I had to get to the exit.

As soon as I reached the top of the stairs my heart was pounding intensely in my ears, but all I could see was the opened exit gates through the shack’s doorway. I didn’t see the Hillbilly running behind me, and before I could reach the doorway my legs were hit with the his hammer. I fell to my right side, against the wall and finally came face to face with the monster.

The killer cocked his grotesquely deformed head to the side and looked at me for a few seconds almost as if he was remembering who I was… or what he had tried to do to me last time. He seemed to have remembered his gross intentions as he quickly grabbed me by my blouse’s collar and hung me in front of him.

I started trying to kick him but he had hit my legs hard enough to cut my calves so every movement was painful. He growled out in annoyance and threw me back down to the floor, making me hit my head and lose my vision momentarily.

“Stop… kicking…” he had grunted in the most hoarse, guttural voice I had ever heard and lifted his hammer above him. He brought it down on my left knee, the blunt force ripping at my jeans and causing blood to start pooling out. I screamed out in pain, it hurt so bad I couldn’t even describe it. Then he did the same to my right knee.

The pain was blinding, it sent agonizing spasms through out my legs that intensified with every movement. I shut my eyes tightly and tried to grasp whatever I could find to keep myself from moving, but my broken wrist made me shudder more.

Then I felt the monster’s body bear down on me, his hand pulling at the hem of my pants and his face breathing down on my stomach. He started rubbing his face up along my chest, to my neck and I felt his rough, sparse hair graze my chin. It made me want to retch in disgust but my throat was too sore from screaming.

I couldn’t give up, _wouldn’t_ give up. I opened my eyes and was faced with his black, sunken ones. The moment I felt him tear the front of my jeans I reached for his eyes with my right hand, I wanted to tear them out just the same. But he moved his head too quickly and grabbed my forearm, twisting it and slamming it back down.

He groaned out in anger and rested his forehead on my own, his abnormally hot breath hitting my neck... and then I felt his grotesquely large bulge grind slowly against me. I wanted to scream, to fight, but the fear of what was inevitable kept me frozen in place as his movements became more erratic.

“YOU FUCKING BITCH!” I suddenly heard Jake yell out as the Hillbilly stopped to growl at him.

I saw the bright light of a flashlight shine on the monster’s face, causing him to stumble backwards onto his knees. Jake then ran across the shack and grabbed the hammer laying by my feet, and without hesitating, swung it at the killer’s head.

The hard impact of the hammer against his face made him fall back near the stairway of the basement. I felt someone lift me up and grab me from underneath my arms. The sudden movement made me cry out in pain and I begged them to stop, but they kept dragging me out of the shack. I saw Jake take another swing at the fallen monster, impaling the hammer into it’s left shoulder.

We had learned one too many times that the killers couldn’t be stopped, they had no weaknesses besides a temporary blindness from the flashlights, but even then, some of them were immune to it. So it didn’t surprise me when the Hillbilly grabbed the handle of the hammer and pulled it out with no blood to follow. Before the monster could take a swing back at him, Jake vaulted over the window.

“We’re almost there, we’re almost there…” I heard Dwight breath out as he dragged me past the exit gates.

Kate came limping towards us from across the fields, bleeding from the side of her head and shoulder, but stopped and gasped once she got closer.

“Try to grab her thighs. Sorry, Claudette, it’s going to hurt.” Dwight said as he lifted me higher.

Kate looked like she wanted to cry but nodded her head and grabbed around my mid-thighs, which caused me to cry out again. It was too much, the pain was starting to make me lightheaded as they moved me past the hallway into the forest that surrounded the farm. We made it. We were safe.

“W-wait… Jake…” I weakly muttered before the world around me started fading out. _A nap sounds nice_ , I thought to myself as everything faded to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took me longer than usual to finish. Don't know why >_>


	6. Heaven

“Thomas! Firewood, shitloads, go!” Tapp yelled out from across the camp as Meg was exiting the supply shed.

She had offered to help Laurie organize the supplies, even though they were already thoroughly organized and cleaned. But Laurie knew that something was up with Meg since she had never offered to clean anything the few weeks they knew each other.

So, for two hours they talked about their old lives and how each had come to find themselves in this realm. Things slowed down though, as the blond girl asked about the other killers besides her brother Michael. Meg talked about all of them in detail, but Laurie noticed that she had completely skipped the one they called The Trapper. Before she could bring him up, Meg had told her that she needed to go check on a few things, but considering that almost everything was already taken care of, she knew the redhead just wanted to leave.

“Nah, I’m good!” Meg replied as she waved her hand dismissively. She was _not_ in the mood to go alone into the woods right now. No way in hell.

Tapp was sitting with Ace around the campfire as Meg approached them, hands in her knitted sweater’s pockets and her cap snugged lowly on her head, almost covering her eyes.

“What the hell kinda’ style is that?” the detective asked her as she sat down next to Ace.

She shrugged her shoulders, “Whatever it is, it’s my kind of style!”

Ace looked at her and snickered, “Now why the hell didn’t I get something that nice?”

“Because I’m loved.” The young woman said smiling at the older man and tightening the sweater around herself. It was a soft lavender color that didn’t suit her too well, was two sizes too big, and lacked a hoodie, but it was made by her friends and she couldn’t have loved it any more.

“Ain’t even that cold anymore.” Ace said as he shook his head and took out his pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

The air had warmed up considerably by the time she had woken up in the forest. She had convinced herself that it was all some twisted illusion by the Entity and that she had most likely tripped on a branch and hit her head… even though she didn’t have any injury… and the lavenders were crushed where she had imagined The Trapper standing.

Regardless, she made her way back to camp, laughing to herself at how ridiculous the whole ordeal was, at how dumb she must have looked tripping on that stupid branch. But as soon as she heard the distant chatter of her friends her heart sank. It was real and she knew it, but how the hell could she tell them without having them panic as she did?

The camp was suppose to be their resting place, their _safe haven_ in this shitty world, and by telling them she would be robbing what little hope they had left. So she decided then and there that she would keep it to herself for now. Besides, it wasn’t like The Trapper tried to kill her, at least not yet.

“Firewood ain’t gonna get itself.” Tapp told her as he stretched out his back until he heard a pop, “Son of a bitch, why did I have to come here so goddamn old.”

Ace laughed out loud and lit a cigarette with the campfire flames, “You’re the fuckin’ fountain of youth, whattaya talkin’ ‘bout!” With that, Tapp gave him the middle finger and started rubbing his lower back.

“Why can’t you guys go get it?” Meg asked as she stood up and looked around the camp, almost everybody was gone except for them three, Laurie, and Nea.

“Because, how else are you gonna contribute to the group?” Tapp replied sternly.

Meg sighed, _Guess I can ask Nea to go with me._ She looked at the detective and groaned a bit, “Fine.”

 

* * *

 

 

She made her way to the tents, hoping Nea was around because she didn’t necessarily want to ask Laurie, especially with how obviously nervous she got talking about the killers. The blond teen must have caught on to something and spending more time alone was just asking for trouble.

“Hey, Nea, you in there?” Meg shouted out as she approached the tent Kate and her shared.

There was some movement inside and after a few seconds Nea poked her head out of the tent, “Oh. Hey. What’s up?” the beanie clad woman said with her mild, Swedish accent.

Meg smiled wide, “Wanna keep me company while I get some firewood?” _Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes…_ Meg thought to herself as she nervously fiddled her hands in her pockets.

“O-oh. Uh, sure. But…” Nea said with a confused look, this was new to her, but very much welcomed.

Meg chuckled nervously, “What? What but?” She really hoped she was playing it cool, the last thing she needed was for Nea to ask her if she was okay, like everyone else was doing as of late.

“Well… it’s just that you have never offered to hang out before so… you know…” Nea said hesitantly before she made her way out of the tent, dusting her snack's crumbs off her skinny jeans.

 _Huh. Dang, that’s true._ Meg thought, a bit disappointed in herself for not being more friendly with the Swede, and then smiled, “Well, no better day to start a beautiful, life-long friendship than today!”

Nea smiled and shrugged her shoulders, being around the redhead always made her a bit nervous but she wasn’t going to be foolish enough to turn her down. “Let me just grab my sweater in case it gets cold.” She said as she peeked back into her tent.

“S-sure. Yeah. Definitely need to have it handy.” Meg muttered nervously. This whole nervousness thing was getting ridiculous! Any mention of the darn weather was making her feel all sorts of anxious and she hated it. It sucked, big time.

After Nea got all that she needed the two young women made their way through the forest, heading to the same area Meg and Kate always went to get firewood. It was a good distance from the camp but it appeared to be some sort of old hunting lodge that had a ridiculous amount of firewood stored outside. Even after months of taking from it, the pile was barely half-way gone, so Meg preferred to make the 40 minute hike- 15 if she went running, than stay closer and chop down the wood herself.

To make up for being a shitty friend, Meg spent most of the walk asking Nea about herself: her hometown of Hjo, her parents and their rude tendencies to dismiss almost everything she did as rebellious, even her favorite foods and colors. Anything really, so long as Meg could learn more about the tagger as well as keep herself distracted from the gradual thickening of the fog.

By the time they reached the lodge, Nea was laughing at Meg’s college party story. “So you had never drunken before or…“

“Oh, like once or twice but the beer tasted nasty. I dunno, I guess I just wanted to see what was so great about the keg thing.” Meg said as she crouched by the firewood pile and started separating the pieces she was going to take.

“You Americans have such weird traditions with alcohol.” Nea chuckled, “Do you have anything to carry those in?” she asked Meg as she saw her picking up the firewood.

“Uh, not really. Kate and me just take them by hand.” Meg replied as she looked at the few pieces in her arms, why didn’t she ever think of getting a bag or something?

Nea looked around, eventually heading inside the old, withered lodge while Meg stayed outside waiting and started getting nervous again. The fog had greatly thickened and the air was getting chilly. She decided to head inside to stay as close to Nea as possible.

The glass door of the lodge was shattered but small shards remained on the wooden frames, making Meg struggle going in since she had her arms full of firewood. However, the sudden chill that ran down her spine made her forcibly squeeze herself through, causing her to scrape her elbows with the broken glass. _Shit, he’s around here!_ Meg panicked as she looked for Nea inside the first floor of the building, getting the same intense feeling of being watched as the day before.

“Here, try this out!” Nea yelled from the second floor, the sound of her descending the wooden stairs echoing throughout the mostly barren lodge. She approached Meg with an old, tattered sheet and placed it across the floor. “Put the wood on it and then we can tie it up. Let me see if I can find another one for myself.”

Before Meg could tell her to stay, Nea ran back up the stairs. Meg was standing a few yards in front of the door but knew that if she turned to look she would surely see something that would scare her shitless. She crouched down and began carefully placing the pieces of wood in the middle of the sheet, _Don’t do it Meg, don’t be stupid. Don’t look…_ she kept telling herself as she became increasingly tempted to look towards the doors.

If there were two words to describe Meg most people that knew her would choose _curious_ and _determined_. She was always the first one to bring up the ‘What ifs’ in any scenario: what if I tried out for cross country, what if I slept an extra 15 minutes and just sprinted to school, what if the professor couldn’t grade the papers because someone accidently spilled an energy drink on them while his locked, empty office was left unattended… she was full of hundreds more, and was determined when she tried out every single one of them.

So she shouldn’t have been surprised when the thought of ‘ _What if I just take a quick look_ ’ flashed through her mind. Neither when she actually did it, and much less when she saw the harrowing figure of The Trapper standing at the front door.

She froze. He didn’t do anything in their first encounter except tell her three very vague words, but she wasn’t too sure he would be so harmless this time. The sound of Nea walking upstairs made her freak out, _What if he tries hurting her?!_ She fearfully thought to herself; after all, his three very vague words seemed to have alluded towards killing her friends- though she had been curious as to why not herself.

Before she could stop herself, she stood up, “P-please… don’t hurt her…” she carefully said as her heart started beating erratically and her lips trembled.

The killer remained eerily silent and made his way inside the lodge, slowly putting his massive body through the front door’s wooden frame. Meg gasped and took a step back, she could run out through the back door- her legs were already twitching in anticipation, but she wouldn’t dare leave Nea alone with this monster. She was very much determined to defend her at all cost.

It took five strides for The Trapper to reach her, each step lightly shaking the wooden floors beneath them. Once again, she was faced with the killer’s large, bloody chest and his ghastly mask staring down at her, making her shrink in fear.

She stood painfully still as he brought up his massive right hand to her face. She wanted to close her eyes, but ironically, her fear didn’t let her. What was he going to do this time, would he give her another threat, or would he actually do her harm? So many questions raced through her mind, but never could she have anticipated his stroking of her bottom lip.

Her eyes widened as his index finger gently touched the entirety of her bottom lip, his breathing remaining slow and deep while hers almost stopped altogether. And then he slowly pushed his finger in-between her lips.

Meg could no longer think, a dangerous whirlwind of intense emotions came bearing down on her. Fear, anxiety, hopelessness… and curiosity.

Without a thought or much hesitation, she relaxed her lips to allow for his finger to enter and slowly licked it with her tongue. She could have sworn his breath hitched, but before anything else could happen Nea shouted by the stairs, “I couldn’t find anything else, but we can take turns carrying the wood.”

Meg quickly turned towards the stairs and then back at The Trapper, but he had vanished.

Nea finally made her way over, a look of disappointment covering her face, “I was hoping we could take more but I guess we’ll have to wait for next time.” She said with a sigh.

“…Um, no problem.” Meg told her, still staring ahead, she didn’t know what to feel anymore: fear or disgust?

Nea gave her a small smile and a nod, “Here, let me tie this up and then we can take off.”

Once Nea tied the sheet and placed it over herself like a satchel, the two of them made their way out, but not before she noticed Meg’s slightly bloody elbow.

“Heh, got clumsy walking through the door.” She told Nea before being asked about it. Nea said a small ‘Oh’ but didn’t say anything else, instead, she started walking.

Meg followed her quietly to the right, looking nervously at the dirt floor ahead of her, until Nea cleared her throat, “So, uh, the fog makes you nervous too, huh?”

The redhead looked up to her and frowned, “Yeah.”

They walked a few seconds in silence until Meg finally stopped, “H-Hey Nea, can you indulge me with my childish tendencies a bit?” she said. Nea was a bit confused with the question but as soon as she looked down she saw Meg’s right hand extended towards her. The young Swede didn’t know what to say since she wasn’t much of an affectionate person, but seeing Meg’s pleading smile was enough to convince her.

As Nea took her hand, Meg’s smile widened, “Thanks. I always feel safer holding someone’s hand.”

They walked the rest of the way in silence, never letting their hands go as Meg was lost in thought over what had happened with The Trapper. She felt so horribly wrong, pathetic, anything and everything that wasn’t noble or good. She tried to reason that it was because she acted like such a wimp, that she wasn’t as brave as she tried to appear. But deep down she knew that the reason she felt like such a shit was because she was curious- the question of ‘ _What if I see him again_ ’ lingering in her head, causing little hums of anticipation.

And all the while, Nea was anxiously biting her lower lip, trying to keep herself from blushing as she felt a million butterflies flutter in her stomach. Maybe she didn’t have to be so alone after all.

 

* * *

 

  
“What the hell ya mean we can’t tell anyone?!” Kate yelled out in anger as Dwight was helping Jake settle Claudette over his back. Everyone was injured, but like hell if Jake would let anyone carry her, especially since it was his own damn fault she was hurt this badly.

“If she didn’t tell anyone before then we can’t run our fucking mouths. Just wait until she wakes up and then you can talk to her about it.” Jake groaned out as his legs buckled a bit under the added weight. The Hillbilly was able to hit his left leg as he reached the exit, a shot of adrenaline helping him to push through as he saw his three companions in the distance.

He was insanely pissed at everything, from the raging killer to the unbearably annoying southern hick, but above all, at himself. After they had opened both exit gates, he had the genius idea of sneaking to Claudette without notifying Dwight and Kate. Halfway there, the Hillbilly spotted him and chased him for a good five minutes, but not without successfully landing some hits on the others. Kate was eventually hit hard enough to knock her out but he was able to distract the killer while Dwight helped her back up. If he hadn’t been so selfishly minded and had told the others that he was going for Claudette, he was certain things would have played out much different.

“She told _you_ , though.” Dwight quietly said as he walked ahead of them, trying to support his recently dislocated left arm.

“Damn right she did, though I don’t know why in the world she’d do such a thing!” Kate bitterly commented as she walked behind them, her whole body was aching real bad, but her rarely-felt anger and hurt was keeping her going.

“Like fuck if I know.” Jake replied as they neared the campsite. He shifted Claudette a bit, trying to keep most of her weight off his left leg. Just a little distance more and they could rest, but his left leg gave out and he fell onto his right knee, letting out a strained groan of pain.

“Goddamn it Jake! We told ya to let us help you!” Kate yelled at him as she hurried to help Dwight take Claudette off his back. Her voice was loud enough for the others at the camp to hear and a few of them made their way over to the injured four.

David was the first to reach them, “Bloody ‘ell, ‘tha lot of ya look like shite!” he told them as he got closer, but once he saw the entire scene he rushed to push them aside. “The fuck happen’d to her. Bloody, fuckin’…” He said as he grabbed Claudette in his arms, bridal style.

Feng was the second to reach them, followed by Quentin. The young Chinese woman gasped and ran up to check on her unconscious friend as they walked briskly to the camp, “What happened? Why is she- who did this to her?!” she frantically asked as she looked behind to Dwight.

Quentin ran up to Jake and helped him get up, causing Jake to sharply inhale as he leaned on the young kid. He threw Dwight a threatening glance but was received with a rather upset look.

“We ran a-against the Hillbilly, a-and really ticked him off.” Dwight replied to Feng with a sober voice, he just wanted to get back to his tent and rest, but not before making sure Claudette was fine, of course.

The more he thought about Claudette not having told him about her first encounter with the Hillbilly, the more upset he became. He was suppose to be like her older brother, did she not have enough trust to confide in him? It hurt even more when he thought of the fact that above everyone in the entire camp, she had to tell the most selfish of them all. What would lead her to believe that Jake was a better option than either him or Meg- who he was certain didn’t know since she would’ve made a scene about it? He didn’t care if he sounded rude or unjust, but what in the fucking high heavens would lead her to believe that Jake would care more about her than him? Nothing made sense and with her being unconscious he would have to bear with it all and wait until she could finally answer to him.

By the time they got to the camp, everyone gathered around Claudette. There was a jumbled sea of shouting and gasping and panicking questions, but David pushed them all aside as Feng led him to the tool shed. Laurie had temporarily fixed the room to house the severely injured and Bill was the first to occupy it. While David was carefully settling their sleeping friend, Feng was shouting at everyone to stay the fuck away until she said so. Quentin was able to make his way past the group as he helped Jake walk forward. After Quentin begged Feng to at least let Jake in, she reluctantly agreed and caused a loud protest from everyone outside, especially Meg and Kate.

“Bloody arses, can’t keep their shite quite for a while.” David said with a lot of annoyance. He tucked in Claudette and gave her forehead a gentle kiss. “I’ma hav’ a stern talkin’ with the fuckers. I’ll be right back, luv.” He told Feng as he gave her shoulders a squeeze.

“Please do, they make it hard to concentrate.” Feng replied as she crouched down to Claudette and started looking over her badly bruised wrist.

David got out of the shed and immediately started raising hell’s fury on everyone. For a minute or two all that could be heard from inside the room was a never-ending spewing of curse words, commands, and Manchester slang that was almost undecipherable since David’s English accent became thicker when he was angry. Eventually everything quieted down as the Englishman ended his lecture notifying them that he was going to take a piss and that he would severely beat anyone who tried getting in the room without Feng’s permission.

Once Feng finished tending to Claudette’s wrist and knees she turned back to Jake who was leaning next to the door. She got up and quickly dragged her med-kit to him as she started cutting his cargo pants.

“So, what happened?” she asked Jake while she started sewing his wound.

He winced from the needle’s piercing but otherwise remained still, “The Hillbilly got to her before we did. Not much else.”

She looked at him with untrusting eyes and wanted to keep prodding for the truth, but she remembered that with him it would be futile. She finally finished and wrapped his entire leg. She was going to continue on his arm but noticed that she was out of thread and gauzes, so she told him to sit tight while she went to get some in the supply shed. With the state that Claudette was in, he wasn’t going anywhere.

As soon as Feng closed the door, Bill, who was laying opposite of Claudette, slowly got up. He coughed a bit, “Did the motherfucker hurt her?”

Jake remembered that she had mentioned talking to Bill, so he eased a little, knowing what sense of the word hurt he meant, “No, but he almost did.”

“Fucking cocksucker,” the old man groaned out as he sat himself up and leaned on the wall in front of Jake, “and she hadn’t told anyone yet, has she?”

“Only Kate and Dwight know.” The young man replied, looking back at the ebony beauty. He didn’t want to imagine what could have happened if they weren’t able to save her. Just seeing the fucking savage hump her was enough to make him see red. Oh how much he wished we could’ve killed the Hillbilly right then and there, with his own fucking hammer.

Bill’s shifting made him lose his concentration, “You know there’s going to be a third time, and a fourth, and-“

“I know!” Jake snapped at him, anger and concern clouding his eyes.

“So what the fuck are ya going to do about it?” Bill asked him impatiently, trying to search for his pack of cigarettes but remembering that he dropped them when the Doctor hooked him. He sighed, “Look kid, want my advice? Don’t be diddle daddling your fucking thumbs waitin’ to see what happens next. We both know that the only way to keep the fucker off is by another fucker’s scent. So stop thinking about formalities and ask yourself, are ya gonna be that fucker or will she have to find someone else?”

Jake stared at him with nervous eyes, everything about the situation was plain wrong, but the hardened veteran was right. And quite frankly, Jake had thought about it since the day she talked with him. Since then, his imagination kept fucking with him to the point of forcing him to avoid her in case he gave in and did something he would regret for the rest of his life.

“Look, just ‘cause ya ain’t in love or aren’t married or whatever the fuck ya sorry-asses care about, doesn’t mean that it’ll be horrible. Just stick your dick in and you’re done. Ya only gotta do it once so it ain’t like it’s some lifelong obligation… Besides,” the veteran said gruffly as he started laying back down, “it ain’t like ya aren’t gonna enjoy it, what with those starry eyed looks you’re always givin’ her.”

The old man let out a groan as he draped his arm over his eyes. Jake stayed still in thought as the even breathing of both Bill and Claudette filled the room. He wished there was a better solution, one that didn’t require him to risk breaking her trust… but if she agrees? Jake closed his eyes and took a deep breath… if she agreed to the shitshow of a plan then he couldn’t even imagine the outcome. He could barely contain himself the way things were now, to imagine a moment where she would let him take her, well fuck… he might as well accept this was Heaven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it begins! Dun dun dun!


	7. Friends

“Any second now, right?” Laurie said as she stood next to me, crossing her arms and looking over at Claudette.

It had been more than two days and she had yet to wake up. I knew something had to give and she would get up eventually, but the amount of time it was taking was becoming increasingly frustrating- not just for me, though.

A few people in the camp were still pissed at the whole situation- at me, acting as if somehow my presence was prolonging her recovery. Kate, Dwight, and Meg were unbearably annoying, stalking around and trying to pull me aside to tell me shit, especially Dwight. That guy was starting to really become something else, and it pissed me to no end. He was acting like her fucking boyfriend, talking to Feng outside the room, telling her to not be so trusting of me as if I was some creep. Well, he could go fuck himself, as clumsily and pussy-liked as he’d want.

Tapp was also starting to throw fits over me being here. _‘He’s done shit for the group, so he deserves shit.’_ he kept telling Feng and David whenever he came around. Of course, he was right. I never really cared about what happened in the camp, and the only reason I would even show my face was for Claudette. But she wasn’t getting up any time soon, so I wasn’t going to leave unless otherwise forced to by running in a trial.

I had just came back from a run against the Nurse and wasn’t much in the mood to have a conversation. The trial went well enough for Nea, Ace, Kate, and I to escape unharmed, but I couldn’t help finding the irony of the run. One of the two most qualified people to help Claudette was trying to fucking kill us, with the other being no better. I think I actually laughed in frustration at some point.

The quick glance I gave Laurie must have let her know that I wasn’t eager to reply, so she continued, “At this point I’m thinking she’s just pulling our legs to get some extra hours of sleep.” The girl said chuckling to herself, but immediately cleared her throat, “So… Feng said to keep an eye on her whenever she left… and, you know, not let anyone in unless injured so… are you injured?” she asked with a look of doubt, almost as if I intimidated her. I felt a bit bad about it- she was a good kid, but I didn’t care enough to apologize. She would learn to not take things personal, eventually.

I got up from the chair next to Claudette and looked at the girl, “I’m fine. I’ll check back later.”

She smiled and moved over to give me some space to leave, “I’ll let you know if she wakes up.” she said by the time I opened the door.

I sighed, looking back at her, “…If she does, can you tell her I need to talk to her in private… please?” I internally cringed. I still hadn’t thought of the prefect way to bring up the awful, shitty plan I had and I wasn’t hoping to get to it anytime soon, but if it meant that Claudette would be up and talking to me again, then I guess I’d have to bear with it.

The kid sat down on the chair and looked back at me, smiling, “Of course.”

I nodded to her my thanks and walked outside, careful to not let the door close too hard behind me like David was prone to doing. But lo and be-fucking-hold, Meg was sitting next to the door, and I knew she was going to make a very loud and dramatic scene.

“Jake!” She yelled at me as she scrambled to get up. She looked like shit. It seemed like she had just had a run and didn’t care to clean up afterwards. Her shirt was caked in blood and her pants were ripped along the seams.

I took a deep breath,  _Might  as well get this over with._ “What?”

She looked at me nervously, her eyes were red and swollen, and her lips looked like they took a beating, but I imagined it was from her chewing them. “P-please, just tell me what happened…”

I shook my head at the predictability of the question. She kept asking Kate, Dwight and I almost every few hours the same question, hoping to get a different answer than _‘The Hillbilly got her.’_ I actually felt pretty bad for her, this whole thing was fucking with her, immensely.

I looked around, hoping to see- shockingly, Dwight.

Either he finally got annoyed with her or it was my abnormally constant presence that caused him to get fed up with everything. He started loosing his patience her, making her quite down and stop asking questions, and when she wouldn’t he would simply tell her to leave.

Dwight and Kate were both sitting at the campfire, more than likely waiting for me, but they seemed to be too distracted in their conversation to pay any attention. Well, I wasn’t going to call them over so I had no other choice. _Fuck_.

“ _Please_ , don’t tell me that it was just The Hillbilly getting her.” Meg said as she grabbed my jacket’s sleeves, “I-I just ran against him a-and he got me…” she said trembling, as if she was about to cry.

My eyes must have visibly widen because holy fucking shit, did he just try the same with her?! Before I could ask her if she was all right she tightened her grip on me and her voice broke, “…He only hooked me, Jake… n-nothing as bad as what he did to her s-so please… what happened that made him leave her like _that_?” she said as she glanced to the shed and then back at me. Tears were starting to fall and I felt like the world’s biggest fucking shit. Had it not been for my iron-clad loyalty to Claudette, I would tell her, she deserved it.

“Meg…” I started but I didn’t necessarily know what to say at this point, and before I could even make up some other bullshit excuse for not explaining, she broke.

“ _Please_ , Jake! Please, j-just tell me!” she sobbed and hugged me, pushing her face against my chest and shaking. How the fuck was I suppose to deal with this? I wasn’t even remotely competent enough to handle my own shit and to attempt to console a crying Meg would end in a very awkward disaster. So I did the only thing I remembered my mother doing when I had a rare, emotional breakdown… I slowly wrapped my left arm around her, pulling her in closer, and rubbed her back in an awkward circular motion with my right hand, _Is it circles or ovals? Am I suppose to go real slow? Goddamnit…_

Her sobbing became louder and it finally caught the attention of Dwight and Kate. Well, now it was bound to get real fucking awkward, but I didn’t push Meg away.

“W-what’s going on?” Dwight asked aloud as he and Kate started making their way to us, and as they got closer I saw a mixture of confusion and anger take ahold of him. “What did you do to her, Jake?” he said in a threatening voice. I couldn’t help but give him a look of utter confusion. Why the fuck would I do something to make her cry and then openly hug her like this?

Meg snapped her head at him, making me let go, “ _You_ are suppose to be my friend and tell me what the hell happened, Dwight! There’s something that you guys aren’t telling me, I _know_ it!”

Dwight let out a frustrated sigh, “Meg! I-I’ve told you, once Claudette wa-“

“ _IF_ she wakes up! J-just… why won’t…” her voice started breaking again as she looked at him and Kate, “…a-aren’t we suppose to be friends? Not keep secrets from each other?... I-I can’t… Come on…”

Kate took a step towards her, but Meg took a step back, “You know what, screw you guys…” she muttered before she turned around and took off running.

“Dang it ya guys! We can’t be keepin’ it from her!” Kate yelled out, her eyes turning red and glazed. She was looking between Dwight and I, expecting us to agree, but I just sighed and turned to leave. At this point, I contemplated just not coming back here anymore, hopefully Claudette would be fine with talking over at my camp and understand that I just couldn’t stand being around these people.

“W-wait! You can’t leave yet.” Dwight said as he grabbed my right arm. I stopped, but didn’t turn. He was going to go off on me, I just knew it. “Look, we n-need to talk.”

I shook my head and scoffed, “Yeah, we do… but not right now.” I told him as I started walking again.

He exhaled loudly and grabbed my shoulder, roughly, “There’s no need for you to be coming back here anymore.”

With that I turned over, the fucker was finally kicking me out, guess he wasn’t as much of a coward as I thought. Being a few inches taller than him, I looked down on him, straight in the eyes, “I won’t.”

“A-and you can’t be around Claudette, either… I won’t allow it.” He told me crossing his arms, trying to lamely assert some dominance. But it pissed me off, far more than I expected.

“So what, you’re her fucking boyfriend now?” I told him as I took a step forward, our height difference now more discernable than before.

He stood his ground and clenched his jaw, “Doesn’t matter what I am, she’s my responsibility and I’m not going to let you influence her.” He said without a single stutter and in a tone I had yet to hear from him. Had it been different circumstances, I’d be impressed.

“How the fuck am I influencing her?” I replied, obviously confused at the his accusation.

Now it was his turn to look pissed, “You know what the _fuck_ I’m talking about, Jake. The fact that she didn’t come to any of us with what happened, but instead went to _you_. How dumb do you think I am?” he said with a near grunt.

“Pretty fucking dumb.” I told him, now looking over at Kate who stood with her arms crossed but looked cautious, “I don’t know why she told me, but that was her decision, not mine. You want an answer, then wait until she recovers.” I looked back at Dwight, “And don’t be jumping to fucking conclusions.”

“Stay away from her, from here. I’m serious.” Dwight said, uncrossing his arms and clenching his hands into fists. Huh, the fucker wanted to fight.

I glanced at Kate once again and then back at him, they were serious about it but I didn’t care. I wasn’t coming back here, but it wasn’t because of their threats, and I was _not_ going to stop seeing Claudette. No way in fucking hell. So, letting my pride and ego take over, I smirked. “You know she’s going to come back to me.” Then Dwight punched me right on the left side of my face.

The hit that Dwight threw at me surprised me in two ways: one, it wasn’t as weak as I would have imagined- it actually hurt pretty fucking bad, and two, it convinced me that what ever the hell he and Claudette had going on between them wasn’t as innocent as I had hoped, and that got me furious. Before I could contain myself, I threw a tight hit right back at him. I had aimed for his jaw, but since I stumbled at bit from his punch my aim was off and it landed straight on his nose. I felt the moment I broke it and was able to stop myself from going at him again.

In a matter of seconds the others came rushing to us. Kate was already holding Dwight as she yelled at us both for being ‘ _mudlicking savages_ ’, Tapp was demanding an explanation while Ace was laughing his ass off, and Quentin nervously stood looking around, waiting for something to happen.

I didn’t stick around to explain anything, why should I after all? They didn’t want me and I could care less about them. It was a fucking beautiful relationship we had and I wouldn’t have traded it for the world. So ignoring their mindless yells and calls, I took off. I was used to being alone, my indifference to others was well built up after a few years of being by myself in the Alaskan wilderness. But the thought of no longer having Claudette around terrified me. I was almost certain she would defend Dwight, they were friends- or more, after all and she was as loyal to them as I was to her. I willed myself to accept that I would have to wait and see, no matter how heavy my heart felt.

 

* * *

 

 

Almost another two days had passed, and I still hadn’t seen Claudette. Fortunately, she was awake, at least, that’s all the kid could tell me. I had had a long trial alongside Meg, Quentin, and Dwight against the Huntress, and it had gone well enough for the most part. I didn’t see anyone for the first four generators and I actually enjoyed it- no distractions and no senseless talking. But once it came time to finish the last one, Meg had gotten hooked and Dwight had gone to help. I had chosen the generator furthest from them, right in front of an exit, and was surprised when the kid showed up to help me. He was quiet for the most part but I could tell he was eager to talk so I decided to ease him by asking how he was doing. Not even a second passed when he blurted out that Claudette was awake and that I should go see her, but I just smiled and shook my head. If she wanted to see me she would do so on her own terms, I decided. No matter how much my heart raced and my hands twitched, I had to wait.

Once the gates were powered on I opened the one near me and walked out of the trial, leaving them alone, like they wanted. I returned to my camp and waited… and waited… but Claudette didn’t show up and I wasn’t quite surprised. She was going to choose her friends over anyone else, even me. But that realization hurt like a bitch and I couldn’t help but imagine that she would show up one day and want to talk again, maybe even give me a hug, like I so badly wanted. Anything, really, just as long as I saw her.

My thoughts were interrupted as soon as I heard someone approaching. For a split second I thought it was her, but as soon as I saw Quentin’s smiling face I sat back down to start my fire.

“Aw, come on Jake, I thought you’d be happy to see me!” he told me as he pretty much skipped to sit across me. He was sometimes a weird kid, but I didn’t mind him nearly as much as the others so I acknowledged him with a blank stare.

He laughed, “Yeah I know, you prefer Claudette, but I’m second best, right?” he chuckled to himself and then adjusted his beanie, “So, what’s up? What you been up to?”

I shrugged my shoulders, “Nothing, you?”

The fact that I asked him about himself must have been some strange compliment since he smiled like an idiot, “I’m great, thanks for asking!” he said happily.

I looked at him a bit confused since how the fuck could anyone be ‘great’ in a place like this, but before I could say anything he spoke again, “So, uh, I’ve been wanting to talk to you about something…”

Aw fuck, another conversation I was probably not prepared to have, “About?” I told him.

He looked down at the fire I started, as if he was contemplating what to say, or hesitant to say anything at all. “Well… I’ve been thinking about some stuff lately…” I glanced at him but continued tending to the fire, “…so, yeah, I was thinking about everything that’s been going on like our injuries, and I thought- well more like came up with a theory…” he said looking at me.

I looked at him again, this time stopping what I was doing and gave him a nod to continue, which he did, “I think- and it’s just a theory still, but, I think the Entity is weakening.” He told me with a very concerned face, “I have a feeling that that’s the reason all these things are going on.”

“What things?” I asked him, still not too sure what he was talking about.

“Well besides the injuries, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but, like, sleep is coming back to us, a bit.” He said as he shifted closer to me, “Like, I don’t know about you, but I was actually able to sleep for a bit yesterday, like close-my-eyes-and-pass-out-for-more-than-five-minutes kind of sleep. It was amazing, Jake!” he told me with a smile but it slowly faded, “But, there must be some fluctuation or something…”

“Like if it’s regaining strength?” I asked him, trying to understand what he was trying to conclude.

He started nodding his head, “Yeah, like, these past few days, with the whole thing of Claudette happening, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but, our injuries are healing a bit quicker.”

I thought about it. It was true, from what little I have gotten hurt and that I’ve seen from the others, the wounds were healing at a much faster rate, though not as quick as before. “But what about Claudette? Her wounds took a good time to heal.” I told him.

“I don’t know, honestly. I’m guessing that the Entity was using her against us.” He said as he looked at me, “That’s how it feeds, right? Off our fear and anguish. I think it kept her hurt to make us feel helpless. And then the whole thing with Dwight and you happened, and well, it might not be fear but it must have fed it enough to get its strength back.”

“How did it weaken in the first place?” I asked him as I crossed my arms to think as well.

He sighed, “Well, it isn’t like we’ve been all that scared lately. The camp’s running pretty well and everyone’s been getting hopeful. I mean, seriously, compared to when I first met you guys two months ago, everyone’s been pretty confident with the rounds. Even Laurie has started getting excited after beating her brother a few times.” He said with a smile, “We’re not just surviving anymore, man, we’re actually thriving, and in this shitty realm of all places!”

“So to keep us feeding it, the Entity started pulling some strings, huh?” I said as I thought on the whole situation with The Hillbilly. It made sense given that it actually worked, at least for me- it scared me shitless.

“Yep, don’t know what else it’s planning, but once we get back on track it might do some worse stuff to keep us in check. I just can’t guess what…” he said as he stared pensively at the fire. I nodded my head in agreement, if The Hillbilly’s sudden deviation was the Entity’s doing, then I couldn’t bring myself to imagine anything worse, especially if it involved Claudette.

“Anyways!” the kid said as he jumped up, rubbing his hands together, “Thanks for talking with me. There really isn’t anyone else I could talk to since they might think I’m weird, but you’ve been a real bro about it.” He said with a wide smile and turned to leave, but abruptly stopped, “Hey Claudette!”

My breath hitched and my heart stopped, I wasn’t expecting her, and everything I had been wanting to tell her came crashing down on me. I was in no way prepared to talk with her right now. _Fuck, fuck, fuck…_

“Hey Quentin! What are you guys up to?” she said from behind me, and my mind went blank. I didn’t realize how much I missed her voice until that moment, and to say it was a lot was an immense understatement- a huge, fucking understatement.

“Just talking, my buddy and I.” the kid said as he walked by me and gave my shoulder a pat, “I gotta take off though, Nea wants some help with a bag or something.”

Claudette giggled- which caused my heart to start pounding again, loudly, “You guys really took to sewing. Well, enjoy yourselves! Make sure to spend some quality time together!” she told him as she placed her hands on my shoulders.

“Will do, and I hope you and Jake spend some quality time together as well!” Quentin said as he took off. Regardless of the fact that what he said was innocently meant, I couldn’t help but internally groan at the double meaning it held to me. I knew I was bound to talk to her about my suggestion- er, plan to deal with The Hillbilly, but crossing that fucking bridge was far more difficult than I anticipated.

Her gentle squeeze on my shoulders broke my train of thought completely, and when she wrapped her arms around my head for a hug, my fucking brain shut off, “I missed you!” she said happily.

Without a clue as to how to respond, I simply nodded, “I missed you, too.” I muttered.

She laughed- right in my ear. Her beautiful, sweet laugh that always made my heart skip, was being directed to me and I couldn’t help but close my eyes and smile.

“Wow, I thought you would be a whole lot more excited to see me!” she said, laughing again. Unfortunately, her warm breath was right on my ear and I couldn’t stop my body from shuddering. It felt so fucking good, fuck…

She didn’t seem to notice anything as she let me go and crossed over the log to sit next to me, making sure to leave a small space between us. I should have closed it, but I stayed still.

She very loudly exhaled, “Oh boy… you guys are pretty bad without me, aren’t you?” she said with a shake of her head, “When Ace told me about you and Dwight fighting, I swear,” she covered her face with her hands, “Oh my God, I can’t even bring myself to ask about it!”

I sighed, “Claudette I-“

“It’s okay! I spoke with him, with everyone, and I made sure to let them understand that we can’t kick anyone out. We have to stick together, Jake. No matter what.” She said as she grabbed my right hand.

I gently squeezed her hand. God, I never knew how something so simple could make me feel so nice. She was finally here with me.

I never would have imagined there would be a moment where I wouldn’t want to be left alone. Yet, there I was for nearly four days, fighting against the depressing feeling of not talking to Claudette, of not seeing her face light up with her smile, or hearing her voice utter any goddamn word. I missed her. More than I had ever missed anyone, and with an intensity that left me speechless. I couldn’t lose her again, and if what Quentin said is true, I wasn’t going to risk anything.

I looked at her, making sure she looked me in the eyes, “I won’t let it happen again. I promise.”

She gave me a sad smile and looked away towards the small fire in front of us, “Jake, I’ve told you… I won’t allow myself to be a burden to you, or to anyone, really. I can’t expect you to fix my problems.”

“It’s not an expectation, nor a burden. I’m doing it because… we’re friends... Aren’t we?” I told her and she looked at me again, and grinned.

“Of course we are!” she said with a tight squeeze of my hand, “And you’re right, it’s just…” she looked back at the fire, “I don’t… really want to think about it… I know its dumb since I have to but…”

I finally closed the space between, holding her hand tighter, I grabbed her chin with my left hand and as gently as I could, made her move her head to look at me. Her eyes were heavily glazed, the reflection of the fire outlined the tears that were forming.

“I don’t know what to do…” she whispered, her hopeless stare knocked the air out of me. She was genuinely afraid and hopeless and I couldn’t handle it.

“I will do anything for you, Claudette. Whatever it takes, I will do it.” I told her, still arguing with myself as to how to tell her what I needed.

She smiled, a tear finally falling from her left eye, “I know.”

I finally decided it was now or never, damn my doubt to hell. “Do you trust me?” I asked her.

“Of course.” She replied with a hint of curiosity.

I smiled, “Good.. then, remember what Bill had told you, about a probable cause as to why The Hillbilly tried to get you the first time?” I asked her.

She nodded, now looking a bit concerned, “Yeah, about the virginity… thing… oh...” she replied, the slow realization of what this conversation was leading to causing her eyes to widen and her cheeks to slowly darken to shades of red.

“It just has to be once, I promise.” I told her as blood gushed to my ears and my heartbeat started pounding furiously in my chest. I didn’t know where to look at her. Her eyes or mouth… Hair?

She remained speechless for a few seconds, processing everything, and I felt like I was struggling to breath. Worry started to creep in as the possibility of her rejection increased… at least I tried, right?

She finally moved to look away, but not letting go of my hand. I could feel a lump starting to form at the back of my throat, my muscles tensing at the sudden realization that I didn’t know how to handle a rejection. Anger? Definitely. Sadness? Not as well as anger, but well enough. Disappointment? Mastered. But rejection? Not once.

“I mean… it doesn’t have to be me…” I finally said, deciding that if I gave her different options then her rejection wouldn’t be as painful.

She looked at me, a bit taken aback, almost like she hadn’t thought about the others as viable candidates, “Oh… right.”

I cleared my throat and thought of the deed as a well-thought out strategy, one where I couldn’t allow my emotions to intervene or influence. “There’s Dwight. And Ace. Tapp might be married but I can talk to him-“

“N-no, it’s fine.” She interrupted nervously, “I think… I mean, we would still be friend’s, right?” she said with an anticipating head nod.

I smiled, “I promise.”

She seemed to relax and smiled back, “Then it’ll be with you.”

I almost felt myself collapse with the sudden relief I felt, my heart rate dropping back to its normal speed and my fingers easing their hold around her hand. But the feeling didn’t last long.

If her and Dwight were so close, why wouldn’t she have chosen him? I wanted to believe that it was due to them having some sort of sibling relationship, but the fact that she asked if we would still be friends after, sealed it for me. Whatever she had with Dwight, she wasn’t willing to risk it over a one-night stand, if anything, she was probably looking to have something more serious. But, fuck it.

She had just agreed to have sex with me, and as pathetic as it sounded, I wasn’t going to complain. So what if she saw me strictly as a friend, at least I would be able to enjoy something that would otherwise never happen. Besides, no harm in pretending it would be out of love, because at this point, I didn’t even bother to deny the fact that I would do absolutely anything for Claudette- not because we were friends, but because I was in love with her. Completely and hopelessly, in love.


	8. Daisies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heads up, this chapter contains rated-M material !

“How’s ya nose comin’ along? Betta’?” Kate asked Dwight as she saw him approach her tent, more than likely heading to his own.

She was laying out front of hers, head resting on her arms, barefoot, and with her shirt rolled up- exposing her flat belly. The moment Dwight caught sight of her, he couldn’t help but be awestruck and stare, before realizing that he must’ve looked like a pervert.

“O-oh, uh, it’s better. I-i-it healed fine.” He replied as he looked away and crossed his arms.

She giggled at his reaction, enjoying seeing him get all flustered, “Well that’s some good news. Where ya headin’?” she asked as she started getting herself up. He really was an attractive guy, what with his cute stutters and messy hair. And she was always a secret fan of men with glasses… but when he would speak all serious and boss-like- Oh Lord! was he something else.

“Uh, j-just going to rest a-a bit.” He once again replied, cursing at himself for still getting so nervous around her. Lately, they had started hanging around much more, talking about Claudette and Jake, and sharing different stories about their previous lives. But she usually went off topic with some of the oddest tales, so he hadn’t learned a lot about her, much to his disappointment.

She finally stood up and stretched, her body contorting in the most fascinating of ways, and causing Dwight to once again stare at her, “Mind if I join?” she said with an innocent smile.

The look on Dwight’s face caused her to burst out laughing, making the few that were in camp glance at them. Ace, Feng, and David were by the campfire doing some card tricks, and as soon as they caught sight of them they just shrugged and went back to what they were doing. Everyone knew how Dwight got around the blond, it was nothing new.

But Dwight was having a hard time calming himself down, his face as red as a bad, beach sunburn and his palms sweating profusely. He knew she was teasing him on purpose, but that just made it worse, since the fact that she paid him a lot of attention was nerve-wrecking. He knew he never had a chance to be with someone even 50% at her level, but the teasing got to him _real_ bad.

“I’m just kiddin’! No need to get all flusta’d, honey!” she told him in between her giggles. “Come on, let’s talk for a lil’ bit.”

Not waiting for a reply, she grabbed his hand and led him to the hammocks that the three oldest men would usually claim, but Tapp and Bill were called to a trial so there was nothing they could do about anything.

She made herself comfortable in the largest one, fixing her shirt as to not distract Dwight and resting her head on her hands. It reminded her so much of her childhood in southern Alabama, when her and her brothers would stay sleeping outside on the hammocks her father made them. She missed them like crazy, but she pushed the memories to the back as she looked over at Dwight who was sitting against a tree.

“Somethin’ botherin’ ya, hun?” she asked him as she saw him looking at his hands, lost in thought.

He sighed, “Claudette went to see Jake the other day, a-and it… I can’t tell her what to do, b-but I don’t like him being around her.” He said as he looked at her with a mix of disappointment and anger.

“Ya mean you don’t like _him_?” she said, trying to understand just why he didn’t like Jake so much. Sure, Claudette not coming to them hurt like a nail to the foot, but after careful consideration, she started to understand just why she did what she did. In all honesty, Jake was a good guy, heck, he didn’t even hesitate to go against The Hillbilly to save her!

“Both… I j-just, I still can’t understand why…” he said with a shake of his head and another defeated sigh. No matter how he spun it, the idea of Claudette running to Jake instead of him for help was infuriating. _He_ was one of her closest friends, _he_ was the one who would die for her, _he_ was like her brother! So, why didn’t _she_ come to _him_ and not to Jake?!

She tightened her lips, trying to think of what to say, “Well, I guess I do.” She said as she shifted herself to a sitting position.

“Y-you do?” he asked her with partial curiosity and annoyance. He sighed, he shouldn’t have said anything since he really wasn’t in the mood to talk about Jake, especially with Kate now trying to find some reason to excuse what Claudette did. In the end, Claudette almost got raped and spent nearly five days recovering from her injuries. No, Jake wasn’t someone worth consulting. Dwight had known him long enough to find that the lone survivor wasn’t someone who had proven to be trustworthy, always doing his own thing during trials and having no problem leaving them behind unless Claudette begged him not to. He only ever tried to include him for her sake. Simply put, he just didn’t like the guy.

“At least, I think I do.” Kate chuckled, “I mean, think about it Dwight, who does Claudette really have that’s special to her? No one!” she told him, but quickly saw Dwight’s confused look turn into one of disgust. “Not to say he’s special to her, of course! But… think about it this way, when someone has a bad case of the blues, they usually go to their partners or friends. But when they got it real bad, they go to someone that ain’t so emotionally invested in them, like a doctor.”

Dwight stayed thinking, starting to understand what she was trying to say but still unwilling to give Jake the benefit of _any_ doubt. Kate could tell he still wasn’t convinced so she continued, “Like back in my hometown, almost everyone was Baptist. We used to have these lil’ ole neighbors that were Lutheran through and through, but they were harmless, so no one paid much attention to them. Anyways, when I was ‘bout 10 years of age, this new church popped up ‘bout a mile or two from town, but it was Presbyterian and everyone was _furious_. Ain’t no one wanted them around, but the pastor- this staunch, raisin of a man, was very adamant to stay. It caused a ruckus and everything! So anyways, my daddy and mama were going through this _nasty_ part of their marriage, what with my daddy foolin’ around with Ms. Jackson, and my brothers and I were terrified they’d be getting’ a divorce. So one day, while my daddy was out huntin’ I went cryin’ to my mama, askin’ her not to leave daddy, beggin’ her to stay…”

Kate stopped for a bit as her voice cracked a little, but before Dwight could ask her if she was okay she kept going, “So! I guess I must’ve really stirred some feelin’s in her since that same day she took me over to that new church, crying and tellin’ me it would be okay. And when we got there she asked the pastor- Mr. Daniels if I recall correctly, if she could talk with him. So they went aside while I played with my lil’ guitar and by the time my mama came back she was smilin’ and laughin’ and just plain happy!... she never left daddy after that, and believe it or not, she always went back to Mr. Daniels when things would get real rough, even though we still went to our Baptist church every Sunday mornin’… So… ya see?” She said, finally taking a break from her story to smile at Dwight, “Even when she had all her family and friends and our tight-knit lil’ Baptist church, mama still went seeking the advice of grumpy ole Mr. Daniels, and it seemed to have been hers and daddy’s savin’ grace.”

Dwight understood exactly what she was trying to say, and while it bothered him to accept it, she was right. Claudette must have felt _something_ that compelled her to believe the best option she had was to go to the recluse. He sighed again. Whatever that _something_ was, however, he was bound to ask her about it, because while Kate was right, so was he. He just felt something tell him that Jake was no good for Claudette, and it was pissing him off to no end that she would want to keep seeing him when he was here for her. His final conclusion was simple, Jake was bad and Claudette was too damn nice to see it.

He looked over at Kate, who was now looking off to the campfire where the other three were talking. Ace was showing Feng and David one of his newer card tricks. David was absolutely mind-blown as to how the Argentinian managed to make the correct card appear behind his hands, yelling out a boisterous ‘ _Fuckin’ A, mate!_ ’ while Feng sat with her arms crossed, unimpressed. She was most likely telling Ace how obvious his tricks were, how they weren’t challenging enough for her to enjoy, causing a frustrating groan from the older man.

“Don’t you eva’ get envious of them?” Kate finally said after a few minutes of silence, watching them.

Dwight looked at her and then back at them, any thought of Jake being pushed away as he tried to see what Kate was talking about. Ace was doing a neat little trick where he would make the card you chose disappear from your hands and appear under his cap. It was impressive really, “Um, I-I suppose. But I think Ace h-has been practicing since he was a child so-“

“No, silly!” Kate laughed and shook her head, “I mean David and Feng!”

“Oh!” Dwight said, not completely understanding her, but turning to watch the couple closer. While Ace was doing the trick, David had his arm casually draped around Feng. As he got more excited, he would hold her closer and look at her, as if he needed to see her expression to better enjoy it. Once Ace flipped the card out of his cap, Feng smirked, and David, having seen her positive reaction, allowed himself to be wildly amazed. It was nice, actually, to see them enjoy each other. After these long months, they still acted like they did back when they first started dating- if one could call it that. They would always be next to each other, giving quick glances and finding ways to touch, be it a simple hold of the hands while they talked to others or a full-on make out session in front of the killers as they crossed the invisible exit line. Now that Dwight thought about it, he really wondered what the killers thought of that... But, yeah, he supposed it _was_ something to be envious about.

“My parents were sometimes like that, holdin’ each other and laughin’ but… I always thought I’d find something betta’ and seein' them two makes me realize I was always far from it…” Kate said somberly, still looking at the couple but with a distant stare, “I never really found a man who could treat me like that, ya know? They only eva’ wanted me for one thing or another, but never to- not even singin’ to them was enough.” She said with a bitter chuckle.

“B-but, your voice is amazing! It’s one of th-the best I’ve ever heard!” Dwight quickly assured her, not believing that anyone could ever _not_ love hearing it every day. God, if he was ever lucky enough to wake up to the sound of her voice next to him, now _that_ , that would be a whole something else.

“Well hold ya horses, now! Just _who_ do I have the pleasure of bein’ second place to?” she told him with a genuine chuckle and an expecting look. She was pretty damn good at singing and she knew it! But for Dwight to tell her that he heard better, well now!

Dwight let out an awkward laugh as he looked to the ground, cheeks starting to blush again, “My mom.”

He had expected Kate to laugh, or to at least giggle at his statement, even though he meant it. His mother’s sweet voice was always his most favorite thing to hear, and it helped him so much with his stuttering as a young boy. Her lullabies were so mesmerizing that he was sure even The Huntress would be calmed by them!... But he hadn’t heard her in almost a year and it hurt him to admit that he was forgetting how she sounded, and she didn’t deserve that.

After a few seconds of not hearing her reply, he looked over at Kate. She was looking at him, lips closed tightly together with a very pensive look, “Let’s try it then.”

“Try w-what?” he asked, almost 100% sure she wasn’t talking about Ace’s card tricks or singing a lullaby back at The Huntress.

“What Feng and David have… what my parents hardly had… what I always _wanted_ …” She said and ended up muttering, “Let’s try to make somethin’ worth our while… ya know?”

She was looking hopeful at Dwight, almost pleading, and it caused him to short wire. A whole new level of nervousness overtaking him and making his brain a giant mush of cells and cerebral fluid, “I-I’M A VIRGIN!”

Before Ace could reveal the chosen card of his grand, final trick to his two-man audience, Kate’s shrilling laughter caused him to jump and drop his two cards, including the one hidden in his sleeve, “ _HIJO DE PUTA_! The fuck you laughin’ about?!” he yelled out to her.

“You see! He is a cheater! Like I have always told you!” Feng said as she grabbed David’s face and forced him to look at the fallen cards.

“Well look at that… bloody cheat... But fuck, luv, he played ‘em bloody well.” David muttered, heartbroken and disillusioned that the sense of magic couldn’t last any longer. He shook his head, tricked once more by the con-man. Fucking A.

“Ah bastards,” Ace muttered as he picked up his cards, “You know, why don’t ya just get a room already?!” he yelled at Kate again.

“I reckon we just might!” Kate yelled back in reply, getting off the hammock and dragging Dwight away.

“And then they just leave!” Ace said to himself. He looked back at the now-somber Englishman, “Hey, did I ever show you my cigarette trick?”

Before Feng could reject his offer to show them, David excitedly shook his head. She would choke Ace whenever she could get the chance. His card tricks were unsurprisingly sleazy and his cigarette smoke always irritated her lungs, but she knew better than anyone that David had no other favorite past time than seeing them- except sex, of course. So while she couldn’t stand Ace’s smug look and lack of creativity, she couldn’t help but love seeing David gasp and mutter in amazement like a ridiculously oversized child. She had learned, after much hurt and anguish experienced in this damned realm, that when it came to the one you loved, it was the simple things that mattered the most.

 

* * *

  
It had been five days since she had last seen The Trapper, and Meg was becoming fidgety. She had already accepted that she was inexcusably messed up. Her curiosity to see him again was boiling over and she didn’t know what to do anymore, so she ran. When she wasn’t in a trial or hanging out with Nea she was running through the forest. It served a double purpose, really. First and foremost, it served as incredible proof to Claudette that she really was fine and that nothing was going on, and second, it provided her with the chance that just maybe, she would come across the killer. It wasn’t right, she knew, but her anticipation was suffocating her.

After a long, killer-free run, Meg returned to the camp. She stopped near the eastern end of the camp, catching her breath and muttering to herself that she was stupid, this was stupid, The Trapper was stupid. She heard some branches snapping and jumped.

“Oh God! You scared me!” she yelled out as Claudette appeared, her heart racing at an abnormally fast pace. Was it so messed up that she had hoped it was the killer? Yes, yes, it was, she decided.

“Sorry! I didn’t even see you!” Claudette replied as she finally made her way to the heavy-breathing redhead, “How was you’re run?” she asked, happy to see her best friend enjoying her favorite hobby once more, especially after her last time.

Meg wiped the sweat off her eyebrows, “Eh, I’ve had better… Where you heading?” she asked Claudette as she looked around, it was what they all considered “night” and seeing her ebony friend going out for a walk this late was a bit unusual.

“Oh, uh… just going to see Jake.” Claudette replied with a smile, though she seemed to be moving her fingers a bit nervously. After the conversation she had with him yesterday, they decided that the sooner they got it over with, the better. She had told him she would see him earlier than right now, but her nerves got the best of her and she hesitated.

Meg looked suspiciously at her, she knew Dwight had some sissy fit with Jake and banned him from going back to the camp, so she supposed it was true. But still, “I dunno if I believe you…” she said, rubbing her chin.

Claudette laughed and dramatically threw her hands up, “Okay, you caught me! I’m going to meet my mysterious lover in the woods and we’re going to make mysterious love on a field of lavender and daffodils!” She said with a feigned blush. There was no better way to lose suspicion than joking around with her friend, at least she hoped so.

Meg gasped, “You sneaky, sneaky, slut!... You better not get an STD!”

Both young women started giggling at each other, grabbing hands and eventually embracing. Meg squeezed Claudette tightly, snuggling her head on her shoulder as her cap started coming off. She hadn’t had a chance to sit down and talk with her and Dwight, but with the way things had gone, she wasn’t expecting to any time soon. She was still royally pissed at Dwight and Kate, and she didn’t feel like talking to them yet.

“God, buttercup, I missed you.” The redhead groaned out as she released her friend, but kept holding her hands, “Like, really, really bad.” She didn’t want to remember how miserable she had been the last few days without Claudette since she would surely cry, so she tried concentrating on whatever she could think of… like The Trapper. _Dang it all to heck!_

“I know, but hey, don’t dwell on it, okay?” Claudette told her as she started to fix her misplaced strands of hair, “Besides, I’m sure you weren’t that bad, Kate said you had Nea to keep you company.”

It was true. Nea had become a shoulder to lean on, a reliable source of comfort, and Meg couldn’t have imagined how much worse she would have handled the situation without her. She was beyond grateful, and she would find a way to pay her back.

Meg scoffed, “Dude, I was _bad_. Like, hugging Jake bad.” With that Claudette gasped and covered her mouth, Jake hugged Meg?! This was completely new information and it made her stomach flutter, to imagine him comforting Meg melted her heart. _He really was sweet_ … But remembering what she was planning to do with him in less than an hour made her almost want to faint. She couldn’t let Meg catch on to anything, so she kept playing with her braids.

“Meg, when was the last time you washed your hair?” Claudette asked her, noticing the debris and dried blood that was stuck in between her hair and growing concerned as to how long she had kept herself in that state.

The redhead nervously chuckled, “Well, you see, I was very busy lately and… I haven’t really had time to wash it in like… a week?”

“Meg! You can’t be serious!” Claudette gasped out, this was ridiculous! She knew Meg wasn’t a child, but since she was usually the one to brush and braid her hair, it made her feel a stab of guilt. Meg really was affected by the whole ordeal, and she couldn’t do anything to fix it except be extra vigilant with her from now on. “You’re going to wash it right now, you know?” she told her sternly.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ll ask Nea to help me.” She replied, playfully swatting away Claudette’s prying hands.

“Or you can wash it yourself?” Claudette suggested, arms crossed and eyebrows cocked, just like her mother would have done had she been here.

“Yeah but…” Meg said as she started walking away, towards the camp, “I’m kinda lazy, so… you know… have fun with Jake! Bye!” she quickly said as she ran off, leaving Claudette wide-eyed and shifting awkwardly in place. _Haha, yes, fun_. She groaned to herself as she started making her way to Jake’s camp, holding her arms close to her chest at the sudden drop in temperature. Well, it was now or never, and quite honestly, she was excited it was now.

 

* * *

  
**WARNING: CONTAINS M-RATED CONTENT**

 

By the time Meg reached the tents, she felt the cool touch of the air hit her sweaty body. With a violent hit of feeling intensely cold and intensely nervous, she shivered. Well, she wanted this didn’t she? And now that it came time to receive it she was regretting it like the coward she seemingly was.

She stood in front of Kate and Nea’s tent, tapping her hands against her hips, reasoning that maybe she should head to bed and forget about everything for a while. She could wash herself tomorrow and just tell Claudette that it got too cold for her to do it, and well, she wouldn’t be lying. But before she could make a move to leave, Nea opened the bottom of the tent’s flap and peeked out.

“Meg! Hey!” she said in pleasant surprise and scurried her way out of the tent. She was already wearing her sleeping gear which consisted of an oversized black t-shirt and yoga pants- that Kate had finally convinced her to wear. “What’s up?”

“Oh, uh, were you busy?” Meg asked as she crossed her arms and felt some guilt hit her, she had been bugging her friend a bit too much lately, “I’m sorry! Go back to bed, dude. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“No! It’s fine!” Nea said quickly, “I don’t mind hanging out for a while. It isn’t like I can just lay down and sleep either way.” She told her, hoping Meg would agree since she really did enjoy spending time with her. As of late, the young Swede was practically glued to Meg, seeking her out whenever she finished a trial and anxiously waiting for her return when she was left at camp. She was becoming increasingly aware that her feelings for the redhead were going beyond that of friends and into the territory her parents would have been ashamed of. She never cared to be normal for the most part, but the confusing feelings she got whenever she saw Meg laugh or when they held hands was enough to wish she was.

“You sure? I _really_ don’t want to bug you, especially not to take a bath right now.” Meg said with a shiver. The cold was intensifying and she knew exactly what that meant as her curiosity peeked its ugly, dumb head out.

Nea remained quiet as she was trying to make sure she heard her correctly. Meg wanted to take a bath? With _her_? Meg wanted to be _naked_ around _her_?... Wait… Meg was going to be naked. And with that thought Nea’s face blushed. This was wrong, so very, very wrong.

“Yeah, you know, it’s getting too cold, so we’ll leave it for later. I’m super sorry to bother.” Meg told her as she started to make her way to her tent. She needed to get herself to bed, now. She would otherwise do something stupid.

“Wait!” Nea yelled out to her, jogging over to grab her arm, “It’s fine, really! Let me just grab my sweater and we’ll take off… wait, how do you bathe?” she asked as she realized that no one had ever bathed, rather they used small buckets and rags to keep clean.

“Oh, no, Nea, really. It’s cold, it’s late, and making our way to the lodge is gonna take a bit too much time.” Meg told her, hoping she would understand and let it go.

Nea chuckled, “Wait, you bathe in that old tub up stairs?” she asked as she recalled seeing an old, brass tub on the second floor of the hunting lodge last time they went for firewood. Now this she had to see, hell, she wanted a bath as well!

Meg smiled and nodded, “Yep! But nope! Not right now, head back to-“

“Let me go grab my sweater and a blanket!” Nea told her as she ran back to her tent.

 _And, I’m screwed_. Meg sighed. She just knew she was going to do something super, extremely stupid. She just hoped it wouldn’t involve poor, innocent Nea.

In a matter of seconds, Nea came jogging back with her gray hoody on and a dark, torn blanket in hand. She casually grabbed Meg’s right hand and made her way into the forest. She was thankful to whatever god there was that it was too dark for the redhead to see her face because right now she was certain it was scorching red.

They walked in silence for a while, but Meg shivered a bit too rough and Nea looked over at her, suddenly realizing that Meg was only in her running gear. She was in such a hurry to get going that she didn’t give Meg any chance to grab a sweater!

“Oh my God, Meg! I didn’t even let you grab your sweater!” Nea panicked as she scolded herself for being so selfish.

Meg shook out her left hand, “It’s okay. I can handle-“

“Here, put this over.” Nea told her immediately as she started draping the blanket over her shivering friend. “Even better, here. Take my sweater.” She said as she ignored Meg’s protests and pulled her hoody off. She threw the blanket over her shoulder and put the sweater over Meg’s head, forcing her to put it on. Once she had the sweater fully on, Nea grabbed the hood and placed it over Meg’s head, gently tightening it to fit more secure. So, there was Meg, her smiling lips tinted a dark shade of pink, the blush of her cheeks and nose greatly contrasted against her pale, freckled skin, and red strands of hair sticking out of the hood’s sides. And Nea never imagined anyone more beautiful.

“Gee, thanks, mom.” Meg teasingly told her, feeling all sorts of warm, fuzzy feelings at how much her friend cared for her. All of them did, really, and at that moment she felt like the shittiest friend for wanting to betray them with the intention of _willingly_ seeing a killer. Her smile slowly faded, “Nea?”

Nea snapped out of her gazing trance and blinked twice, “Yeah?” _Shit, was I staring for too long?!_ She panicked.

Meg sighed and continued walking, putting her hands inside the middle pockets of the hoody and twiddling them anxiously, “Have you ever done something stupid, but like, so stupid it completely changed your life?”

Nea’s heart started pounding, was this something having to do with this moment? She didn’t want to get too ahead of herself so she exhaled, trying to keep her cool, “Um, yeah, actually.” She said as she looked off to the front of them, chuckling, “Going with my friends to tag the abandoned asylum was pretty stupid, and it did lead me here, so I’m pretty certain it changed my life.”

Meg shook her head and giggled, “Okay, okay, scratch that. I mean, obviously it was stupid but- Alright, let me rephrase my question!” she said as she concentrated, trying to think of the best way to ask the question without arousing suspicion. “…Okay… Like, have you ever been curious to try something, but you just know that no one would approve of it, like, ever?”

Nea’s breath hitched. This _had_ to do with what just happened with the hoody, it just had to… but then, would it mean that Meg was also feeling confused? Oh, now her heart was racing, “Um… yeah, I have…” she muttered, trying to control her breathing to keep her heart from bursting.

“What would you do?” Meg asked her as she stopped and turned to face her friend. Nea had undoubtedly become one of her closest friends and her opinion on things mattered a lot to her. Whatever Nea says, she decided, she would follow it. Even if it meant to stop seeking out The Trapper.

“Well, why should it matter what the other’s think of it?” Nea said, gaining the confidence to make the outcome of the conversation the best one possible, “If no one is getting hurt, then you shouldn’t be ashamed of doing it, um, I mean, of trying it.”

Meg started chewing her bottom lip, “But… what if someone can get hurt, like real bad?” she asked, imagining all the possibilities of getting killed by the massive, scary killer. His large hands wrapped around her neck, or his strong arms holding her down as he hovered over her, his warm, hard body overtaking hers… _OKAY! STOP IT, MEG_!

Nea looked into Meg’s eyes, she didn’t want to imagine seeing them cry because of her. No, she would never allow it. “Sometimes… the best things in life are worth the risk, right?” she almost whispered.

If Meg wanted to give _this_ a try… Oh, Nea couldn’t imagine telling her anything but yes. Her heart slowed down, but it roughly thumped against her chest with every breath she took- her growing hope to have Meg give her a chance turning into a prayer.

Meg gave a drawn out sigh and looked away, seeing the hunting lodge close now, “Okay… I guess…” she said slowly. Well, she did say she was going to follow Nea,’s advice no matter what, so… she just done screwed up.

Nea cleared her throat and started walking again, she had to give Meg some time to think it through, although her own mind was made up already, “Look, the lodge is close by… but, where do you get the water?” she said looking back at Meg.

Meg blinked a few times and started walking, reaching the left side of Nea, “Kate found a covered water well in the back.”

“Wait, so you guys keeping running up and down the stairs to fill the tub?” Nea asked as she laughed, they must _really_ like their baths if that was the case.

Meg laughed as well, “Yeah, but last time she made a pulley to get it through the balcony. The rope snapped on us though.”

By the time they reached the lodge, Meg was feeling considerably colder- her hands kept shaking and her breath was quickening, even with Nea’s very warm and soft sweater. But Nea helped her stay distracted since she decided it was way too much work to climb the stairs repeatedly. So after seconds of planning, Nea told Meg to help her toss the tub over the balcony, they were going to drag the thing outside, next to the well. With a fit of giggles and grunts, the two young women somehow managed to fulfill their plan, though it left them out of breath and struggling to laugh.

Nea offered to fill the tub while Meg stayed inside to get ready, especially since her braids were woefully tangled. After much debate, Nea won, she was the one that made them come over, after all. Besides, if she wanted Meg to give her a chance she had to give her plenty of incentives.

In just her lime green underwear and Nea’s blanket, Meg was sitting on the bottom steps of the stairs trying to unbraid her hair. She was shivering and becoming more anxious by the second and the struggle of detangling her hair made her want to cry. _Stupid hair, just work with me already!_ She told herself when she suddenly felt the infamous shiver run down her spine.

 _No, no, no, go away!_ She panicked as she shut her eyes tight and felt the intense feeling of being watched. He was in front of her, she just knew it.

“You’ve been searching for me.” The Trapper said in his deep, deep voice. He actually said a complete sentence…

Meg slowly opened her eyes, proving herself right as she saw him standing a few feet in front of her. She wanted to see him didn’t she? Her stupid self couldn’t even decided what she wanted anymore since at the moment, she just wanted to run away.

He cocked his head to the side, almost as if he was observing her and she suddenly felt overly exposed… but excited. She stayed sitting on the steps and he stayed standing still. Was he enjoying seeing her like this? The longer they stayed as they were, the greater her curiosity grew. This was beyond stupid, it was suicidal, but still…

 _What if…_ Meg started thinking, as she slowly stood up… _he wanted to see more_ … She let the blanket fall to her feet, two steps from the bottom of the stairs.

Meg knew she wasn’t the most attractive female around, heck Kate had everyone beat by a mile, but right now, having the complete attention of none other than the goddamn Trapper, she felt very much so. He sought _her_ out, not Kate or Claudette or anyone else, but _her_. He was staring at _her_ , and she couldn’t help but feel intoxicated. She was actually _wanted_.

With two long strides, The Trapper reached her and grabbed her by the arms, dragging her to the bottom of the stairs. She gasped out loud as he gently forced her to the floor, on her knees. Fear suddenly triumphing over every emotion. _Wait! Wait!_ She started screaming in her head but remained speechless as The Trapper grabbed her shoulders and made her turn over, his massive hands almost covering her. She couldn’t think anymore, she didn’t want to, not with what was bound to happen as she kneeled in front of the stairs, arms leaning on the second step as The Trapper held her down by the waist.

She heard him unbuckling something and then felt him move closer to her, his right hand slowly caressing her hips and left hand rubbing her along the seams of her panty. She rested her head on her arms, her eyes shut tight and her lips trembling. She didn’t want this, no, she _couldn’t_ want this, she yelled at herself. She was pathetic, wrong, a traitor to her friends- undeserving of their love and care because although she was trembling and tears were threatening to fall from her eyes… she _yearned_ for this.

The Trapper finally started pulling down her panties. The feel of both the cool air brushing along her skin and the radiating heat of his hands made her shudder. Before she could allow herself to really think about the entire situation, she felt his fingers glide across her womanhood, and she moaned.

Her first time was going to be in New York, Meg had told herself a long time ago. It was going to be with a heart throbbing man with the body of a Roman gladiator, carrying her to the rose covered bed that he would have made for her, atop the tallest building of the city. He would take her gently, yet rough at the same time, worshipping her and telling her that she was the most beautiful woman in the world. She would see the entire city-scape as she came in the most intense way, with him crying out that he loved her with all his being… oh damn, how much she thought about it after watching her mother’s movies. But after realizing that she was just a lanky 14 year old girl living in a broken down, old home with nothing to her name but her school binder, yeah, she didn’t think too much of it for a while.

So as she felt his fingers slowly caress her opening, she finally thought. This wasn’t suppose to be happening. Not here, not with him, not while her friend was feet from them, not ever. But before she could tell him to stop, she felt his fingers leave and something different take over his stroking. It was firmly soft, if such a thing existed, and it was incredibly warm… and big.

Her eyes snapped wide open, “W-wait!” she finally said, her voice straining to come out but loud enough to hear.

He stopped and leaned in closer to her, his left arm bearing down on the side of her and his mask leaning against the left side of her face, in between her shoulder and neck. His breathing was shallow and quick, almost as if he was trying to control it, “No.”

And before she could protest some more, he pushed inside her. She held her mouth as tightly as she could to prevent her sob from escaping. It hurt, bad. She didn’t want to move as he slowly pushed himself in deeper, letting a groan slip from his mouth. _Oh_ … was all Meg could think as the sound lulled the pain a little. He pulled back, the motion causing her to gasp, and then he roughly pushed back in, causing her to let out a shaky moan. She believed, for a split second, that he would be slow, but she was wrong, so very, very wrong. With two more slow repetitions he started moving faster, more desperate.

She had to clench her jaw painfully tight to stop her pained moans and grunts and gasps from escaping. She tried to keep herself still but her body started trembling on its own. It was such a foreign feeling that she couldn’t stop herself from holding back. With a sudden spasm of her vaginal muscles, she let out a low moan as her mind went blank. Flashes of white shot out at her vision, the world momentarily stopping, as her body went limp.

The Trapper held her closer as he kept his frantic speed, resting his heavy mask against her as he let out a deep groan. She felt a warm liquid fill her and moaned once more.

They stayed still for a moment, his right hand once again caressing her waist, their breathing slowing down to a steady rate, and everything came crashing down. The guilt, the fear, the shame, everything. She felt so wrong and dirty. She just lost her virginity to a monster, an evil being that sought nothing more than to kill her and her friends. She wasn’t what her friends thought she was, what her mother raised her to be, she was just plain wrong.

“Please… leave me alone.” She whispered as her head stayed cradled on her arms. She felt him stop his caresses, as he shifted his head to lean more against her shoulder. He was still inside of her, she noticed.

“No.” he simply replied, his voice rumbling against her, “You are mine.”

She opened her mouth to plead at him again, beg him, but she heard Nea open the back door, “The water is ready!”

The Trapper didn’t move away, instead he continued caressing her and grinding against her, his flaccid member slowly twitching inside her. She gasped.

“Meg? Did you hear me?” Nea shouted out once again, the sound of the door closing and her footsteps approaching caused Meg to panic.

“Y-yeah! Just h-hold on a bit!” Meg replied, trying to keep her voice from breaking as her body once again tingled with small bursts of pleasure at every movement he made.

Nea’s footsteps stopped, “Oh, uh, okay! Well I’ll be waiting outside! Call me if you need anything!” and with that her footsteps started receding and the back door creaked open and shut.

Meg sighed in relief, but then quickly gasped as The Trapper gave her one final, rough grind and then pulled out of her. He let her go, pushing himself up with his left arm. The cold air hitting against her wet womanhood made her shiver and she immediately groaned from the absence of his body heat. But she didn’t move, she couldn’t. Her legs felt shaky and her arms- having become more relaxed, felt sore. Well, everything felt sore.

She finally gathered the strength to lift herself up as she held on to the stair railing for support. Once she felt well balanced, she looked around. The Trapper had vanished once again. _Didn’t even stay to cuddle,_ she cynically thought to herself.

Well, she had finally gotten what she had wanted, although it went far beyond her expectations. But she couldn’t bring herself to ask if it was necessarily a bad thing. She couldn’t even bring herself to think.

Sighing, she lifted up her panties that were fallen down to her ankles and forced away any emotion that crept up as she noticed a mixture of white, semi-translucent liquid and blood slowly dripping down the sides of her inner thighs. She fixed the garment to sit comfortably around her hips and grabbed Nea’s blanket. A _good bath should help,_ she told herself as she made her way to Nea; unfortunately, she never was a good liar.

 

* * *

 

  
It was getting late and Claudette hadn’t arrived.

 _Fuck me_. Jake groaned to himself as he stayed laying on the bed. He tried to clean up the shed as best as he could, finally bringing in the old mattress he saw near the ravine and covering it up with some torn blankets he found bundled in the corner of the room. The shed was barren- as he preferred, but if Claudette was coming over to spend the night he needed to have everything perfect or as he liked to call it, not-shitty.

He had washed the blankets with lavender-infused water, hung a few candles around the wall, and made laughably shitty decorations out of empty tin cans and flowers- making sure to have lavender more than anything else. Had it not been for her liking, he would have laughed at how corny and cringey the room looked. He had officially become one of the sleazy ass guys in those B-list Korean dramas his mom loved to watch.

While contemplating the possibility of Claudette not coming at all, he heard a soft knock on the door and her voice call out, “Jake? Are you in there?”

He froze. Although he was expecting and planning for hours what he had to do, his mind went blank. Everything was easier said than done, right? Well, he was having perhaps the most difficult time ever getting himself to move.

 _Fuck it._ He finally told himself as he got up to open the door.

Claudette was standing outside, arms crossed, jittering side-to-side as her nerves got a hold of her once more. She wanted to run away and hide, snuggle herself under a bush and turn into an itty-bitty spider and crawl away. She couldn’t handle her shyness at this point, but before she could run and give her thought a try, Jake opened the door.

She let out a shrieking giggle, making herself even more awkward that she already was, “Jake! You’re here!” she yelled out to him.

He smiled, “Uh, yeah.”

Oh, his smile. She wanted to stay staring at him whenever he gave her one. He was already incredibly handsome with his serious, blank expression, but when he smiled, she felt like he became almost mystical. No one she ever knew was this darn good looking.

“Okay, yes! Okay…” she breathed out, not even attempting to move as he opened the door wide and moved to the side to let her in. It felt as if she entered the room she would be crossing an invisible line. What that line separated, she had no clue, but she didn’t have much of a choice but to cross it… did she?

“So… want to come in?” he asked her as he rubbed the back of his neck. She smiled at him and slowly made her way inside, looking around and coming to a complete stop as she took in the room. If this was how he always had it, then she couldn’t imagine how his real cabin looked like…

“Hope you like it.” He told her, closing the door and standing behind her. As much as he hated himself for it, he couldn’t help but look at her from behind. Her womanly curves that were accented by her wide hips- giving her the perfect hourglass figure, her tight ass that looked far too fucking perfect in those jeans… damn… he just couldn’t bring himself to believe that she was going to allow him to touch her.

He cleared his throat and walked over to the bed, “I, uh, hope this is good enough for, you know…”

She started blushing intensely, looking over at the bed and its tattered sheets, “J-jake, this is… wow… I love it…” she said, walking over to sit on the bed. She knew it was probably because of the rather ugly realm they were stuck in, but she couldn’t help but feel like she was in a luxury hotel, in a honeymoon suite, about to consummate a marriage… oh, right, her mom…

“Really?” he replied in surprise, sitting down next to her and looking around the place, _Huh, guess it’s not too bad_. He finally looked at her, she looked… sad? “What’s wrong?” he asked her, turning himself to face her completely.

She let out a small laugh laced with sadness, “It’s just… My mom _always_ told me that the day I’d be with a man would be the day I married him… well, at least that’s what she expected… if she knew what we were gonna do...” she shook her head, “She would definitely die of disappointment.”

Jake shifted uncomfortably, the situation changing from awkward to… something different, “My mother nearly did.” He said, frowning at the memory of the day he last saw her.

“What?... Oh, my goodness! Is she okay?!” she replied, concern masking her face. She wondered if that was a reason why he was in such a sour mood most of the time.

He sighed, “Yeah. Well, for the most part. She had to spend a few days in the hospital, but she recovered well enough to call me, begging to return home.” He said as he looked over to the tin can vase sitting on the table behind Claudette. Before he left Virginia he stopped by a small flower shop and paid for a year’s worth of floral arrangements to be sent weekly to his mother. White lilies and yellow roses were her favorite. She never did mention that she received them, but her weekly calls made him believe she did.

“Can I ask what happened?” Claudette cautiously asked, unsure if Jake was willing to share anything of his old life. No one really knew anything about him, not even herself.

“My father disowned me when I quit my family’s company. We had a bad argument and once he yelled for me to leave, my mother had a heart attack.” He explained as he kept his gaze on the flowers, “I took her to the hospital, made sure they got her stabilized, and left.”

“And you never saw her again?” she asked him, unable to imagine going through something similar. Being forced away from her parents was torture in itself, but being disowned by her father and hurting her mother in such a way, well, it would have surely killed her.

Jake shook his head, but remained quiet. He was never fond of sharing anything with anyone, especially personal matters, but with Claudette he would make an exception. She already had his heart, he didn’t mind if she had everything else.

“So, how long had it been since you saw her?” she asked as she looked down at his hands that were mere inches from hers. She wondered if he would let her hold them…

“Two years… Give or take.” He replied as he looked over to her but saw her looking down. A sudden memory made him chuckle and caused Claudette to quickly look up at him, “The last time I talked with her was the day I turned 24 and she called to yell at me about her getting old. She kept asking me to marry and give her grandkids… even if she had to pay them.”

Claudette laughed, “Wow, that desperate, huh?” she asked as she imagined him walking down an elegantly decorated church isle with a model-esque Korean woman. _He’d make a wonderful husband_ , she concluded and smiled.

“I think most Korean mothers get to that point if their kids aren’t engaged by 25.” He chuckled. His parents were, for the most part, traditional, but having lived in the States for over 20 years, they became more lax with the spousal expectations of their two sons.

“Well then?” she said, nudging his right arm.

He chuckled, “What?”

“When were you going to give her grandbabies?” she replied, trying to keep a serious face but faltering immediately after. She couldn’t contain the laugh that was brought on by imagining Jake frantically taking care of five, tiny, Korean babies. It would be adorable!

He laughed, unlike ever before, this time it was a joyful, hearty laugh that made Claudette hold her breath as her heart jumped- no! It leaped!… This very moment, this very nanosecond that existed, she realized she was in love with Jake Park.

“I would like to have believed eventually, but not anytime soon.” He said, finally controlling his laugh. He wondered if he would ever tell her how she made him feel. As fucking stupid as it sounded, she made him feel like a kid again- relaxed, care-free, loved… happy.

She smiled at him, but her face maintained some seriousness to it. He figured she was still a bit self-conscious about the whole marriage thing. He could imagine taking her to meet his parents, proudly telling them that she was going to be his wife. Her skin color wouldn’t have fazed them, but he just knew how they’d react. ‘ _And what company should I expect to negotiate with?’_ His father would sternly ask him, holding his hands around his back like he usually did. ‘ _Go! Make me grandchildren!’_ His mom would more than likely command them in her thick, Korean-accented voice as she pushed them to his room. They would come to love her like he did.

An idea crossed his mind, but he held himself from blurting it out. No, it was too childish, too stupid, too corny, and… Claudette would probably love it… but… _Fuck it?_ He thought to himself, just imagining her reaction… _Yeah, fuck it._ If Dwight was going to have her the rest of the time then the least he could have was _this_. Whatever _this_ was. And if Dwight could be fucking cute with her, then why couldn’t he? So he extended his right hand to her, as if he expected her to shake it.

She was taken aback at his gesture, “Um, what-“

“Claudette, I would be honored to be your husband…” he told her in all his seriousness, “…if you agree to be my wife.”

She was speechless. He was kidding rig- no, no he wasn’t. Jake _never_ joked around and right now she really wished he would. She let out a nervous chuckle and then covered her mouth with both hands. Jake was asking her to marry him… well, regardless of the lack of reality this place gave them, she couldn’t keep herself from laughing, her heart pounding at triple its average rate. Yep! She loved him.

Her eyes widened as they stared at his hand, “J-jake, are-“

“I am.” He simply replied to her unspoken question.

She looked up to his eyes, his expression unmoved, and slowly moved her right hand away from her mouth and towards his extended one. It was now or never, right?

She finally grabbed his hand, lightly grasping it until he gently secured his grip as if he wasn’t going to ever let go, and gave her a tender, small smile, “We’re married now, so… I think our mothers would be proud.” He told her in almost a whisper.

She didn’t hesitate when she gave him a kiss on his right cheek. It was soft, almost like that of a child’s, but her trembling was proving of her restraint. She let her lips linger against his skin as the burst of the contact scattered across them, it was electrifying.

He wished he could have been more brave and kiss her on the lips, to show her how much she consumed him, how much she caused him to lose control. But he couldn’t. No, he wouldn’t. As he guided her to lay down, he decided against all his will, that he would restrain himself for her sake. If she wanted to give him her lips, he would accept them, dominate them even. But for now, she was giving him her body, and damned be anyone who tried to take that away from him.

So as he undressed her, taking in every detail- every curve, every scar, ever dimple, everything, he kissed her body. He was determined to take whatever she allowed him to as he used her moans as guidance, and so far, she wasn’t denying him anything.

She was lost. Completely, entirely, mindlessly lost as she felt pleasure that was as mysterious as it was intense. He didn’t allow her to shy away from him, undressing every single part of her body and then immediately covering it with his lips… and tongue. Oh, the things he did to her with that thing. As silly as it sounded, his proposal to her helped immensely. She didn’t care that it was fake- even though she naively hoped he was being as serious as he sounded, she was engulfed in the moment that he was her husband and she was his wife because that would mean that they would never be apart. No, she couldn’t imagine being without him from now on, but... could he?

The nasty creature of doubt reared his head into her heart. Everything he was doing, he was more than likely doing it because he cared for her- as a friend. He didn’t love her, did he? If he did, then why hasn’t he kissed her? Well, was that even required as a testament to one’s love? Surely it was, her parents did it all the time, the movies, the dramas, the people on the street- all of them kissed to signify their love for one another. But not Jake.

As he positioned himself on top of her, his body bare and sweating, she looked at him. His eyes were closed, and she frowned. Why didn’t he want to look at her?... If only she knew how he felt at that moment.

His body was screaming at him to take her, now. To ravage her without any constraint, to fuck her as hard as he could. But his eager heart yelled out for him to stop. She was trusting him to help her, he wouldn’t dare break that, now would he? So, he had to close his eyes as he guided himself to her entrance. Feeling her slickness was already too much to handle, seeing her face would surely break him.

Ever so slowly she felt him enter her, her eyes shutting close as he stretched her like never before. She knew it was suppose to hurt, but she never imagined it would mean something other than her body. His eyes were closed and his movements were controlled. He was doing her a favor, as a friend. So she let her tears fall, he wouldn’t doubt they were from the pain, and she held her mouth shut tight. It hurt so bad.

He moved in her slowly at first, allowing her to adjust to the foreign feeling, but she didn’t want to be a burden anymore. If he was putting in all this effort to help her, she might as well return the favor. When he moved himself out, she pushed herself against him. He groaned. Yes, she might not be able to do much for him outside of this room, but if her body was providing him with as much pleasure as she felt, well, she would give it her all.

She started moving against him, matching his speed and fervor, her moans overlapping his. The strange pressure in her stomach started building up as he rested his head against her shoulder, muttering ‘ _fuck_ ’ and grunts, and finally, her name. She closed her eyes and relished in it. He said her name, and it sounded so beautiful. Suddenly her body jerked and a gush of pleasure swept across her, making her throw her head to the side and let out a moan louder than any other, his name rolling off her tongue with ease. She felt him push deeper inside, feeling a warm liquid trickle down. Oh, she forgot about that…

While she laid still, pondering whether or not a pregnancy could even exist in this realm, Jake moved himself off of her and settled himself to her right side. He laid on his back, arm draped over his forehead and relaxed into the pleasant hum that overtook his body. He felt fucking amazing.

She turned her head to him and he met her gaze. They were both breathing heavy, faces flushed and bodies glimmering with sweat, and without a word, she moved closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm over her and held her close, her soft body feeling perfect against his hard one.

“Thanks, Jake.” She whispered.

“…Yeah, no problem.” He replied. He wanted to tell her more, to perhaps ask if it was as good for her as it was for him. But he didn’t want to ruin the moment, he just wanted to fall asleep, exactly as they were and forget about everything.

“So, uh, friends?” she asked, snapping him awake. He looked down towards her, and nodded.

“Like I promised.” He said, closing his eyes, his last thought of Claudette eventually fading into darkness. Finally, after months of never-ending yearning, he fell asleep.

Claudette remained awake, listening to his breathing slowly pace down until his light snoring signified that he was, indeed, asleep. She had yet been able to sleep like almost everyone else. Who knew you’d miss something usually hindering, but she supposed it was fine, so long as Jake got the rest he deserved.

She stayed snuggled next to him for what seemed like hours until she finally decided it was probably best to leave. She wouldn’t want to bother him when he woke up, after all. So she slowly- and very reluctantly, untangled herself from him, making sure to be as careful as possible. She crawled out of the bed and dressed herself. As she adjusted her blouse she observed him sleep. Would this ever happen again? _Should_ this ever happen again?

She decided that if he wanted to, she wouldn’t mind at all. _We’re married after all, right_? She thought to herself, smiling.

Before she closed the door, she grabbed one of the lavenders from the arrangements next to the bed, smelling it as she walked out and gently closed the door. She swore that their smell was so much more fragrant than before. They reminded her of Jake.

 

* * *

 

  
He didn’t know what day it was, but Dwight swore that today he finally felt alive. The mere thought of Kate making him smile like an idiot as he stared into the campfire.

He was too lost in thought to notice Claudette taking a seat next to him, “What ya up to?” she asked, playing with the flower in her hand. He always forgot what those were called, daisies? Well, whatever they were called, he wondered if Kate would like some.

“Nothing much.” He replied, looking at her and smiling. Yeah, he would get some for Kate tomorrow.

They both sat in silence, smiling. After a minute or so, Claudette saw Meg approaching them. Nea was with her but before they reached the campfire, she waved at them and walked away, leaving Meg alone.

“You washed your hair!” Claudette told her as she saw that Meg had her hair down the closer she got to them.

“Oh. Yeah. Finally took a bath.” Meg replied as she lazily kicked Dwight’s foot to make him scoot over. He did, of course. “Did I make mama proud?” she playfully asked Claudette, talking over Dwight who now sat in middle of them.

Claudette smiled, “Very.”

“I m-made out with Kate.” Dwight suddenly said, blushing hard but still looking straight into the fire. And what a make out session it was.

“Huh.” Meg looked into the fire as well, “So… how was it?”

“Awesome.”

“Nice.”

The three friends sat in silence once more. Claudette was lost in thought as she gently twirled the lavender between her fingers and thought of all the ways she could kiss Jake. Dwight was absentmindedly looking into the fire as he remembered all the ways Kate taught him to kiss- the ones using tongue were _definitely_ his favorite. And Meg couldn’t stop looking at the erratic flames of the fire as a deep, unsettling feeling sprouted inside her. She was worried that, for once in her life, she started something she was too afraid to finish.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter was twice as long as usual, but it felt wrong dividing it so I decided to clump it all together. Hope it came out as well as I intended!


	9. Twitch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's safe to say that from here on out all chapters will contain Rated-M content.

“Her name is Nancy.” Quentin finally said after a few moments of silence, smirking and blushing a bit.

He was helping me fix the last generator when we started talking about how easy the spy movies made it seem to fix everything with hairpins. Eventually he started talking about his girlfriend back home who wore them all of the time, always losing them in his room when they hung out. As an example, he showed me the rusted, brown one he kept in his pocket at all times.

“I’m sure you’ll see her again, Quentin.” I told him with an assuring smile. Even though a very small part of me doubted we would ever leave this place, I wouldn’t dare nurture any kind of despair in my friends. They deserved to have as much hope as possible.

He smiled widely at me, “Oh heck yeah! Can’t let the Entity win,” he said shaking his head, “no way no how, right?”

I laughed, not entirely sure what he meant, but he looked determined so I couldn’t say otherwise, “Of course!”

We were half way done with the generator and I could already feel some relief. For the entire time it took us to fix the first two, we didn’t have a clue who we were running against. Unfortunately, by the time we found Meg and started fixing the third, we heard the infamous snap of a bear trap and a gut-wrenching scream from Nea. Almost immediately Meg took off to get her, leaving Quentin and I to finish the rest, which we did quite well, if I do say so myself.

He really is a sweet boy, easy to talk to, respectful, and- much to my surprise, was becoming close to Jake. The moment he mentioned that his ‘ _buddy Jake’_ taught him a neat trick to strip the wires, my heart fluttered!

It had been almost three days since we, uh, did the deed- or made love, as I secretly told myself. And I had yet to see him for more than a minute. Either he had been called to a trial by the time I arrived at his camp, or I would be called on my way over. I had tried seeing him at night, but Dwight saw me the first time and we had a long talk about him. I didn’t have any real siblings, but I swore that I understood exactly what others said about big brothers.

 _‘I know you mean well, Claudette, but Jake isn’t someone you should trust too much._ ’ He kept telling me, no matter how much I told him that Jake had never been mean to me, not once! ‘ _Look, he’s a guy. I hate to admit it, but I know what he’s thinking about and it’s not good. At all!'_ he finally told me, but with more stuttering and blushing, of course. I eventually promised that I would take his words into consideration and that if I decided he was right I would stop going to see Jake by myself. He reluctantly agreed to stop bothering me about it and had since kept his mouth shut when we mentioned Jake. But I could tell by the look in his eyes that he couldn’t stop thinking ill of him.

I didn’t lie, though. I thought hard and long about what he said, of Jake thinking only about _that_ , and it got me a bit sad honestly. I thought of what had happened when we made love, of how he seemed to have enjoyed it but wasn’t too keen on kissing or looking at me. Did he really think of me _that_ platonically? Was I _that_ ugly? Or… as Meg would sometimes yell at him… was he gay?

My mind and my heart spun the entire time I thought about it, my stomach eventually knotting too uncomfortably for me to bare so I put an end to it. I concluded that, regardless of my love and Dwight’s sudden dislike of him, he was my friend, and I never left my friends behind- be it in trials or out of them. He might be a bit reclusive, but I knew deep down that he needed us as much as we needed him. We were a family after all… a very mismatched and borderline incest one, but a family nonetheless.

“Woo!” Quentin yelled out as the final generator turned on, the exit gates sounding in tandem. “Goddamn, we’re getting good!” he shouted out as he excitedly skipped over to the other side of the estate, where the closest exit gate was. I couldn’t help but grin at him, he was sometimes too cute!

By the time we got to the exit, we heard Nea yell out in pain again. She sounded very close by and my heartbeat started pounding, The Trapper was getting close. Before Quentin and I had time to run and hide, Nea appeared through the thick fog, limping- dragging her bloodied right foot. Mere feet away, The Trapper appeared behind her, holding a bloody bear trap in his left hand and his cleaver in the other. He swung his cleaver and hit Nea’s right shoulder, with little effort. She immediately fell forward, screaming in pain as blood started seeping out of the clean, deep cut.

I looked over to Quentin, to tell him to open the gate while I helped Nea, but before I could say a word, Meg ran past us. She was sprinting towards Nea, faster than I had ever seen her, and then she did something that I had ever only seen Jake do. She attacked The Trapper.

“LET HER GO!” she screamed at him, throwing herself against his back and choking him- well trying to. Her arms were wrapped around his neck as if he was giving her a piggyback ride and he stood nearly unmoved. Nea started dragging herself to us and I rushed to help her without thinking.

Meg kept yelling, throwing herself to the sides like a madwoman. I guess she was trying to get him to fall or stumble but he simply threw the bear trap down and grabbed her arm.

“NO! NO!” Meg kept yelling, kicking around as he pulled her off of him and somewhat roughly threw her to the ground. His level of ease was unnerving, seeing how small she looked next to him showed how truly massive he was. My heartbeat actually exhilarated with fear. “Leave her alone you shit!” she said as she got herself up and pushed him on the chest. But once again, he seemed unfazed.

Quentin and I were able to drag Nea towards the exit, and I hurried to heal her. The wound was deep, but from the looks of it, had failed to cause serious damage unlike the other times he usually got us. He rarely, if ever, missed.

“What the- sorry Claudette! But what the fuck is she doing?!” Quentin whispered as he started opening the gate, frantically shaking the switch as if it would somehow make it open faster. I kept looking back at Meg while I continued bandaging Nea’s shoulder and ankle. I kept shaking my head in disbelief, _Meg has finally gone crazy!_

“Don’t you dare touch her!” Meg yelled out at the killer, hitting him on the chest, “Don’t you dare! You. Big. Stupid. Animal.” She said, emphasizing the last words with a hit each. She was tiny, how in the world did she think she could stand against The Trapper?!

To everyone’s surprise, he stayed still. I started feeling extremely nervous as I realized that there could be only one outcome to this: she was going to die. So when he finally reached to grab her I nearly fainted.

Fortunately, Meg pushed his arm away and took off running, disappearing into the fog. Without hesitating, The Trapper picked up the fallen bear trap and followed her. His size allowing him to take quick, large strides that would surely allow him to catch up to her in no time.

The buzzing of the gates snapped us all out of our thoughts, we were holding our breaths without realizing it. I finished patching up Nea and hurried her through the gates.

“I can’t leave her! I have to go back!” she panicked as she tried to turn back.

I grabbed her by the arm, “I’ll go get her, leave with Quentin.” I told her as I looked at him and he nodded.

“No! I won’t leave without her! I can’t-“

“Nea! I’ll stay to get her. Go with Quentin and wait for us outside.” I told her as I tried calming her down, gently stroking her cheeks. Tears were falling at this point, she had a look of utter desperation as she kept looking towards the estate, where Meg had disappeared.

Quentin gently grabbed her from the waist and led her to the exit, but she kept looking back at me, eyes pleading. My heart hurt seeing her like that… But… did she and Meg have something going on? What Meg did was insane, completely stupid, and Jake had pretty much done the same for me- but I knew where he stood. Meg though...

Not allowing myself to waste any more time, I decided to ask Meg once we got back to camp, but first I had to find her. I started walking back to where she had run off to but without any time to react she came running into me, knocking me hard on my behind.

“Shit! Sorry!” she said as she quickly helped me get up and started dragging me to the exit. She didn’t leave me any time to do anything as my heartbeat started racing again. I looked back and saw The Trapper pacing towards us. I shrieked and started running with her.

“Stupid, just stupid…” I heard her muttering as we got to the exit. The Trapper was right behind us but once we entered the pathway he stopped at the gate entrance. I briskly walked past the invisible barrier and rushed over to Quentin and Nea who were both sitting against a tree, waiting for us. I looked back and saw Meg was still on the other side, just… Glaring at him?

 _What the are you doing?! Leave!_ I mentally yelled at her as I helped Quentin pick Nea up. My heart was beating crazy fast as I kept staring at Meg and The Trapper. She eventually turned to us, walking past the boundary and helped grab Nea’s arm to hold her. The Trapper eventually turned to leave, but not without giving us a final glance over his shoulder, though I felt as if he was only looking at Meg.

My blood turned cold. Whatever she did, she had somehow managed to escape unharmed, but what about the next time? A quick flashback passed through my mind, of the horrible, second encounter I had with The Hillbilly. I was fortunate enough to not run against him as of late, secretly wishing that what Jake and I did really did solve the problem, but I just knew that until I did, my fear wouldn’t ease at the start of each trial. Then I stopped dead in my tracks, making Nea and Meg stumble a little…

Did The Trapper try to…

I looked at Meg, my eyes wide with horror, “M-meg?”

Meg looked at me a bit confused, “Yeah…?” she replied, a bit uncertain as she looked at Nea and then back at me.

 _No, no, please, not her_ … “…He… he didn’t try to _hurt_ you… did he?” I asked her, my voice trembling and a nasty clump forming in my throat.

She kept looking at me weird, but then she looked away, “I was too fast for him.” she simply replied, looking back at Nea, “Come on, lets hurry back to camp and patch you up.” She told her as she started walking, forcing me to continue as well.

I couldn’t concentrate the entire walk. Thoughts and images were racing through my mind of The Trapper attempting to hurt Meg as The Hillbilly did to me. Just the thought of her going through the same thing made me want to throw up. I kept glancing at Meg the entire way back to camp, but she just kept looking forward, a scowl on her face and lips tightly shut. She was in deep thought and I prayed that whatever happened back there, had nothing to do with what I thought.

We eventually made it close to camp but as we got closer we could hear voices being raised. I sighed, it was Jake and Dwight.

“Look, next time you need my help, don’t expect me to come over just to hear you’re fucking accusations. Either you let me do the fucking favor in peace or don’t ask me anymore.” I could hear Jake raising his voice. I _really_ wasn’t in the mood to see them argue.

“I’m not accusing you of anything. All I said wa-“

“Was that she keeps trying to see me because I’m telling her-“

“No. I said that since she h-has started talking to you more, sh-“

“Don’t fucking bullshit me, Dwight. I understood _exactly_ what you were trying to say.”

We finally reached the camp and I saw Dwight and Jake outside the tool shed, standing a little too close to each other for my own comfort. The door was open and inside sat poor Laurie with a very awkward look as she turned the knobs on the old HAM Radio we had stored inside. I couldn’t tell if it was on but it was obvious she was really try to distract herself from the guys.

“Okay! What’s going on?!” I excitedly told them as I let go of Nea and jogged over to the guys. “Why all the yelling?” I asked as I got closer, Jake turned to look at me and Dwight looked to the floor, rubbing the back of his neck shamefully.

Dwight sighed and turned to me, “L-look, Claudette, it’s not really-“

“Cut the bullshit, Dwight.” Jake interrupted him, glaring angrily.

“Jake!” I raised my voice at him, “I don’t want to hear anymore curse words!” I said as I placed my hands on my hips, letting myself become like my mom for once. “Now tell me, _without_ yelling or cursing, what’s going on?”

Jake deeply inhaled and looked at Dwight, who in return looked at me, “I-I asked Jake to come h-help with the radio and _all_ I said was that y-you always seem a bit too eager to go see him.”

Jake scoffed, “You fu-“ he breathed in, tightening his jaw, “You told me that I was trying to spend too much time alone with her and-“

“And that it seemed as if y-you were brainwashing h-her! I know!” Dwight sighed and looked at me, his eyes held some guilt in them, and then he turned to Jake, “…Look, Jake… I wasn’t trying to accuse y-you of anything. What I wanted to s-say just came out wrong… I’m sorry.”

I was touched. Really touched. Dwight had just apologized to Jake and I just knew it was because of me. He cared enough to let go whatever was going on, and it was all because he had promised to be more receptive of Jake. I smiled at him and looked at Jake. “See! A miscommunication!”

Jake scowled at me and shook his head in disappointment, “I fixed your fucking radio. Don’t expect me to come back and do anymore of your shit.” He said as he walked past me to leave, looking over at Dwight.

“Jake, wait!” I told him ask I ran behind him, trying to grab his arm but as soon as I touched him he pulled away.

“It’s fine.” He said as he kept walking away. I felt so hurt at that moment- he was mad, actually mad… at _me_ ….

I didn’t hesitate to keep walking behind him, ignoring everyone’s awkward glances. “Jake, plea-“

“I said it’s fine. Stay with Dwight.” He snapped at me, but not in a loud voice as he had just done with Dwight. He said it so low and angry, and that hurt so much worse.

The way he looked at me made me recoil in pain. He had never, and I really meant _never_ spoke to me in that tone. And that look of pure anger… My mind raced with a thousand reasons why I would make him so upset, but not a single one stuck. I was absolutely clueless and remained frozen in place as I watched him leave.

“ _Wow_ , what bit him in the bum?” Quentin commented as he looked around at everyone. He was genuinely asking us but the tension made everyone scatter to occupy themselves, ignoring him.

I went back to tend Nea’s wound and Laurie came over to help. Between Laurie, Meg, and I, we were able to quickly and efficiently heal her, although it would take a few hours until the wounds closed up.

Meg got up from her sitting position and wiped her hands clean, “I’m, uh, gonna go for a run.” She said as she looked over to Nea, who was sitting in front of her.

“Wait! I mean… can’t you stay a while?” Nea asked her, grabbing her hand. I noticed the way she held Meg’s hand. Her hold looked gentle and her thumb was softly rubbing Meg’s knuckles… _Oh my God… There is something going on between them!_ I yelled to myself.

Meg looked a bit hesitant to say anything at first, but she started chewing her bottom lip and nodded, “…Okay. Yeah. Sure.”

I had never seen Nea smile so wide. She was the most quiet of the group- besides Jake, and when she spoke she had such a soft voice that even I strained to hear her at times. She had once told me that she felt self-conscious about her accent and so she preferred not to speak all that much. But now that I noticed, it seemed that when Meg was around she was much more open and social.

Not wanting to appear nosey, I packed the med-kit up and took off to the supply shed, leaving them to sit alone by the fire. If Meg wanted to tell me about her relationship with Nea I would let her be the one to tell me. Honestly, I always assumed Meg was into guys, but if she wasn’t, I could care less so long as she was happy. They _did_ make a cute couple after all!

It wasn’t long until everyone returned back to camp. I decided that today, I would make Veggie Rat Soup, to everyone’s horror. I was never the best cook, but everyone saw me as the only competent one, though I had no idea why, so I always took my role seriously. However, I was completely clueless as to what I was doing since my mind kept thinking about Jake and him being mad at me, but after an hour or so I had finished the food- if one could even call it that.

“You, uh, sure about this?” Ace was the first to speak as everyone was sitting around the campfire, tin can full of my soup in hand. He kept poking at it and watched the liquid slowly drip from his finger back into the container. I really hadn’t meant for it to come out so brown and… goopy.

“Well, you know, first time’s the charm!” I told him smiling, but inside I was cringing. _Please God, don’t let us die from this…_

“Ain’t like ta’ lot of us can die, mate.” David spoke up and without hesitating, started gulping down the soup. Everyone watched in horror and disgust and amazement as he didn’t stop to even chew the pieces of veggies. David was _definitely_ something else.

Eventually, most of the group grew confident as they saw David enjoy the food, wiping some off of the side of his mouth with his finger and offering it to Feng- she said no, of course. Slowly but surely, everyone started eating and talking like they usually did.

Amongst all the light talking I cleared my throat, “I’m going to take some to Jake.” I told them while I started refilling my can. It was- surprisingly, good. I wasn’t too sure if Jake was going to be in the mood to eat my food but I wanted to try, and maybe if he accepted I could ask what I did wrong.

I heard Dwight sigh, “C-come on, Claudette, you d-don’t have to go see him after the way he acted-“

“What did ta’ fucka’ do?!” David immediately interjected with his right hand balling into a fist- he was a brawler by instinct. Feng simply swatted his hand and gave him a threatening look and he reluctantly went back to eating his third serving… I couldn’t help but notice she had hardly touched her food.

“The punk-ass acted rude with her!” Meg shouted as she chewed a large piece of… something and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She still had a drip or two on her chin and Nea immediately wiped it off with her handkerchief, causing Meg to smile awkwardly.

“He wasn’t in a good mood, is all…” I muttered as I continued filling the can. I had made up my mind to take him some and I didn’t plan on backing out.

“Oh come on! He’s always a grumpy ass!” Meg yelled out again, “I swear, he’s just like my cousin!” she said with a wave of her hand. Nea looked at her curiously and asked what she meant and within seconds Meg started telling her the Cousin Story. I sighed. I knew I shouldn’t have mentioned going aloud.

“Well, he was particularly short-fused today.” Laurie said as she finished her last bit of soup. Dwight looked at her with a guilty look which I supposed meant he felt bad that she had been around during their little argument. She was after all, and much to all of our surprise, just a teenage- 17, just like Quentin.

Ace was sitting next to me as he stretched his back and gave me his empty can, “Ah! He’s just blue balled- give me just half, please.” He told me as he turned to Bill and nudged him on the arm, “Ain’t that right Bill? Spending too much time alone in the forest gets ya going nuts, huh?”

Bill had already eaten two servings and was smoking his second cigarette at this point, leaning against Quentin who tried to move his face away from the puffs of smoke, “Nothin’ a good Boom-Boom girl couldn’t help with.” He said with a laughing cough. Ace and Tapp started chuckling and shaking their heads as they looked at each other. Considering that they spent most of their time talking about their adventurous lives, I figured it was an inside joke and reluctantly smiled.

Kate snickered, “Ya mean nothin’ he _himself_ can’t take care of! Good Lord ya men and your sex-driven minds!” she said aloud as she shook her head, but she turned and saw Dwight’s very red face, “Oh! But not you, hun, you are too sweet for that, ain’t ya?” she said with a wink and Dwight looked away, mumbling to please not talk about Jake and sex.

“Well! Say what you guys want, I’ll be back!” I loudly stated as I handed Ace back his half-full can and grabbed the one I prepared for Jake. I knew they were probably going to say other things to make me stay but I waved at them and took off jogging. By the time I couldn’t hear them anymore I slowed down and walked the rest of the way.

I had no clue what Ace meant by ‘ _blue balled_ ’ but since Kate mentioned _that_ I assumed it had something to do with it. Was Jake mad about what we did? No, that didn’t make any sense. Perhaps he didn’t enjoy it? Hmm, remembering the way he groaned would prove otherwise… Oh… those groans… Anyways! I supposed that he was probably confused or something, or- like me, frustrated.

The past two days I had noticed that I wasn’t the same as before. The last few trials were almost lost in memory. Besides having the initial fear of running into The Hillbilly, most of the trials I spent thinking about Jake and all the nice things he did to me. The little sparks from the generators would remind me of the way I felt when I touched him, and the way my heartbeat automatically pounded whenever a killer was around took me back to the moment Jake entered me. I was becoming such a dirty minded individual that I feared my parents would randomly appear to scold me for it.

 _But we’re married!_ I would tell myself, trying to justify my thoughts and to ease my guilt. The memory of his “proposal” always made me blush and giggle but not having him around to actually _feel_ married just depressed me. I missed him so much and I was becoming a bit too desperate to feel his touch again; hence, why I made such a different dish to use as an excuse to see him. He already had a small stockpile of canned food so wanting to take him a can of corn would have aroused too much suspicion. I was a whole pile of messed up, and I didn’t even know where to start to get back to normal.

Once I saw his camp a few yards away I stopped. I fixed my blouse a little and adjusted my glasses… _Maybe I’m not pretty enough_ … I thought to myself, starting to feel that all-too-common, nasty tinge of sadness and self-loathing. I looked down at the can of soup in my hand, it had cooled to a much darker brown and there were small pieces of vegetables floating on top. _Well, mom always said the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, I think... or was that in a movie?_

“Claudette?” Jake asked aloud, startling me so much that I dropped the can, spilling all the soup on the floor. “Oh. Sorry.” He said as he walked over to me. We both looked down at the spilled soup. _Well now_ …

“Um, I’ll go get some mo-“

“It’s fine.” He sighed, “Look, about earlier… I’m sorry I behaved like that.” He said, eventually looking at me. I unglued my eyes from my failed, hard work and looked back at him. His eyes didn’t look as clear as they usually did when in the light, but they were mesmerizing nonetheless.

“…It’s okay… I know you didn’t mean it.” I told him, bringing myself to smile as best as I could. Between being so close to him and feeling disappointed in myself for getting him upset, I was having a hard time thinking.

He smiled a bit, “Let’s, uh, talk inside…?” He asked cautiously and I practically blurted out yes!

We walked over to his home-shed and I kept feeling the ghost touch of his hand against my lower back. Was he trying to touch me? Before I could turn to see if his hand was hovering near me we reached the shed and he opened it, finally touching my lower back as he guided me inside.

The room was nearly the same as the last time with the exception of the floral décor. There was only one tin can next to his bed and it was full of lavenders. I smiled.

We went to sit on his bed and I scooted over to the small table with the can of lavenders. He was fidgeting a bit but I pretended not to pay attention as I smelled the flowers, “So, uh… How did you-“

“It was amazing!” I quickly told him, almost falling off the bed with the force that I used to turn to him. He quickly grabbed my arm to keep me from falling and I started laughing, “I’m so sorry!”

He chuckled and started scratching at the back of his head… he seemed nervous, “No problem… but, uh… I was wondering…” he sighed and turned to look away, his legs apart and his arms resting on them, looking a bit defeated.

“Thanks, again, Jake. A whole bunch. I know that you really got out of your comfort zone for me, and… I really appreciate it.” I told him, grabbing his left arm and smiling.

He looked at me, very pensively, “Claudette… I was wondering,” he exhaled and shook his head, “I really hope I don’t ruin it, but… I’ve been thinking about what we did, and… I can’t help but wonder if, you know…” he sounded so different, so unsure of himself that I was starting to worry… Did he _regret_ what happened?

“Hey, don’t worry! It was a one-time thing, remember?” I told him, my throat tightening as I tried to make the words come out. If he regretted anything of it, God, I think I would run away crying. I wouldn’t be able to handle that, not with how much I was in love with him.

He looked at me with a soft scowl, his eyes now looking clear but tinted orange with the reflection of the candle lights, “And if I don’t want it to be a one-time thing?” he nearly whispered.

“O-oh…”

“I don’t want to screw _this_ up, our friendship… but I can’t stop thinking about it and it’s making me… I don’t know, frustrated?” he said, still sounding so uncharacteristically uncertain.

“Like, _blue balled_?” I asked him, remembering what Ace said and hoping that that was the correct phrase for it.

I had never ever never seen Jake blush, but there was a first for everything, right? So then, I mentally noted that this was, indeed, the first time I saw him blush. I immediately knew that it was a horrible idea to ever repeat what Ace says, and as I tried to think of how to explain what I just said he burst out laughing.

“W-who- who the hell said that?!” he said in between his boyish laugh, “David or Ace?”

“Uh, Ace.” I replied now taking my turn to blush as I realized I must have said something highly inappropriate.

“That son of a…” He muttered as he shook his head but soon after cleared his throat, “Yeah, pretty much. But, look, it would only be when you want it, so… don’t think I’ll take advantage of that.”

I started picking at my long nails, feeling all sorts of warm fuzzy things as I summoned up all my courage, “Well, we _are_ friends and friends help each other out so, I mean… I don’t mind letting you have me whenever you want...” I told him, trying to sound casual, cool, completely not as nervous as I felt. I chuckled a bit to ease myself, “And we _are_ married so I think that allows us to be more… Liberal about it.”

I almost yelped in surprise when Jake practically threw himself at me, desperately kissing and licking and sucking on my neck, and the only reason I didn’t was because I moaned, loudly. The electrifying sensation of his mouth sent these amazing shivers down my entire body, settling deep inside my core. I couldn’t help but grind against him.

“Fuck, baby…” he whispered as he started rubbing me outside of my jeans while grinding against my thigh. I let out another moan as I felt his manhood, he was _definitely_ wanting this. But suddenly it hit me, he called me ‘ _baby_ ’... As I gasped at my feeling of emotional elation he nearly ripped open my blouse and took my right breast out of my bra, sucking gently as his hand rubbed harder at my center.

I couldn’t stop moaning, this felt too good, too right, it just felt like I needed to explode! I wasn’t even remotely aware that I had wanted this just as badly as he did. So, when he finally started unbuttoning my jeans I pleaded with him, “Please, Jake, _please_ …” I didn’t even know what else to say.

“You want me to fuck you, baby?” he whispered against my ear as he started siding his hand into my panties. I couldn’t remember to talk so all I did was nod and moan as his fingers slipped between me, gliding across my little bundle of nerves that I rarely paid attention to. From now on, only he would be the one to touch me, I decided.

I groaned as he removed his hand and started taking off his clothes as if they were on fire, so I started doing the same. We must have looked funny from afar, but I could have cared less as he took off his undershirt and started unbuttoning his pants. He was like a model, no! He was like a Greek god, his beautifully scalped body was illuminated just perfectly with the candlelight, his well-defined abs moving with his heavy breathing.

I was completely naked by now and he finally took off his pants and boxers but I couldn’t bring myself to look at his… penis. I started blushing and covered my face with my hands.

“W-what’s wrong?” he quickly asked as he sat a little back, on his knees.

I shook my head and finally forced myself to look at him and slowly moved my gaze down while biting my lips to hold in the moan I just knew I would make. And I wasn’t wrong.

The first time we did this, I was too engulfed in his touch that I completely forgot to take a quick peak at his manhood, so I shamefully imagined how it must have looked like. I tried remembering how it felt inside of me to make up a picture of it. It must have been thick, not too long but average, I assumed. But _definitely_ thick. And I was right.

The moan I let out as I stared at him must have touched some chord on his pride since his member twitched right after. I allowed myself to soak in the image of his manhood- _my_ manhood, as I so desperately wished it would be. I reached to grab it, awkwardly holding it as if I was giving him a handshake. _A hand-penis-shake_. I giggled to myself.

“Fuck, Claudette… _fuck_.” He groaned out as he closed his eyes and started caressing my knees. I kept stroking him, seeing every reaction my caresses caused him. I stroked my index finger along the bottom of the shaft and he let out a low groan as his face twitched. He liked that, I noted.

He didn’t take any time to reach my center and started rubbing my clit again, making me close my eyes and moan. We stayed like that for a moment, me stroking him, him rubbing me, but I grew too desperate, I _needed_ him inside me, _now_.

Without thinking about it, I gently pulled his member towards me, opening my legs wide as I guided him to my center, and he didn’t resist at all. I made his dripping tip reach my clit and stroked myself with it, once again closing my eyes as I relished in the feeling, but he didn’t let me do it again since he grabbed himself and quickly pushed inside of me.

I naively thought it wouldn’t hurt after the first time, but the sudden pain as he stretched me caught me off guard. It hurt nearly as bad as the first time and I wanted to tell him to stop or to slow down a bit, but his look of utter pleasure- his eyes scrunched closed and his mouth slightly apart, made me bite the inside of my cheeks and bear with it. He needed this, _badly_ and I wasn’t going to ruin it for him. So I willed myself to keep quiet as he started pounding into me, making my breath hitch at every deep thrust he gave. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for the pain to subside and that amazing tightening feeling to emerge, just like the first time.

I didn’t hold back any moans as he kept moving in me, his movements becoming more erratic and quick, and as the feeling of a sudden, warm gush overtook me, he groaned out my name. I was so close, so very, very close and I almost cried as he pulled out of me. _No! Put it back in! Please!_ I yelled in my mind, but as he moved himself next to me I kept my mouth shut. Next time I would surely get to it. _Next time…_

He was breathing heavy as he rested his right arm over his eyes, his hard member twitching but slowly getting softer. I sighed, I really liked that thing. No, no, I _loved_ it. No matter how pervy I sounded, it was true. I must’ve been blushing ridiculously hard as he turned to face me, a look of worry flashing past his eyes, “What’s wrong?” he asked, looking down at himself.

Before he could reach the blanket to cover himself, I grabbed his arm, “Nothing! It’s nothing, just… I never knew something like that could be so… good.” I confessed to him as I smiled, moving myself to lay my head on his shoulder so that I could hide my embarrassed face.

He chuckled, partly out of breath, “Uh, yeah, I’m glad you liked it… so… friends?”

I giggled, “Of course, just like you promised.”

“But with benefits?” he said, smirking as he held me closer and rested his arm on his eyes again.

“Yeah…” I replied, smiling against his shoulder, feeling the nice warmth of his skin. _But I hope we could be more…_ I told myself as I heard his breathing slow down. He had fallen asleep, just like last time.

And just like last time, I allowed myself to watch him sleep for a while until I decided that it was getting too late to stay. Besides, I kept feeling something in my gut tell me that, just maybe, this would never become anything more than what it is. And it was that feeling that made it unbearable to stay. My entire being was forever his- body, mind and soul, and his body was mine- for now, but… would he ever be willing to give me his heart?... I was too scarred to answer that myself at the moment, because I felt deep down, the answer was probably ‘ _no_ ’.

 


	10. Normal

“I ain’t sayin’ it’s a good idea, but-“

“It’s shit, Visconti, that’s what it is.” Tapp grumbled as he puffed out a cloud of smoke.

Almost all the survivors were settled around the never-fading campfire as the grey sky darkened to signal the start of what they called the night. Most of them were quiet as Tapp and Ace discussed the topic of dying outside of trials with Ace suggesting that someone should volunteer to try killing themselves.

“You know, I can give it a try.” Quentin finally said as he nodded his head in careful determination and looked around to see if anyone else agreed. He was always a curious kid- and a bit odd, but he kept himself in check whenever he was around others back home. 'Out of sight, out of mind' was his favorite motto since he tended to feel uncomfortable in the spotlight, but as of late he was becoming more daring, more _awake_ as he could best describe it. Things in this realm were not what they appeared to be so why should they allow the unknown to keep them prisoners!

“Oh yeah? Well just how the fuck would ya’ do it?” Ace asked him with a smirk and leaned back into the log he was sitting against. Kate and Dwight were right behind him but were too preoccupied whispering to each other to pay attention to the discussion.

Tonight, Kate was telling Dwight, they would meet in the tool shack to finally hit second base- or as she kept saying, ‘ _Learnin’ how to work your hands around the grease._ ’ Was it not for the orange glow of the fire, the entire group would have thought Dwight was ill with how red his face was getting.

Quentin tightened his lips as he carefully contemplated the best way to kill himself at camp. The killers were proficient with cleavers and knives and hatchets, so perhaps those were the best weapons to use in the place. Although The Doctor had his electricity… “Hmm, what if I throw the radio inside a bucket full of water… while my head is dunked in?” he suggested, clearly doubtful.

Tapp groaned in annoyance, “Kid, the radio ain’t runnin’ on electricity. It uses batteries…” he told him as he shook his head. They should be talking about surviving against the killers, not lending them a hand!

“Oh! What if we build a chainsaw and-“

“No electricity, again.”

“But if we find gas-“

“Nope.”

“What about some fishing line-“

“Where the hell have you seen any of that here?” Tapp responded with a look of confusion, “And what the hell you going to do, fish yourself to death?”

As Quentin went on to explain how his neighbor’s brother’s mechanic was almost choked to death with fishing line, Meg and Nea sat huddled next to each other in silence. Meg was unusually quiet as Nea kept glancing at her while pretending to listen to Quentin.

This last trial didn’t go so well for the young Swede. From completely forgetting that there was a bear trap on the other side of the window she vaulted to screwing up her landing when she jumped off the stairs of the foundry. She was distracted the entire trial and running against The Trapper was _not_ the best time to think about Meg, and having her in it was making things all the more difficult.

Nea had finally decided that today she would approach her and confess her feelings. After days of playing out different scenarios in her mind, she concluded that the worst thing that could happen was that Meg would turn her down but they would still remain friends. But if things went well, she would be getting the most awesome and beautiful girl she knew to be her girlfriend. _My girlfriend!_ Nea kept excitedly telling herself. Yeah, she didn’t mind rolling with those chances. Besides, the fact that Meg fucking _attacked_ The Trapper for _her_ made her even more confident that the redhead’s feelings were probably aligned to those of more than just friends.

 _Gah! How could I be so fricking stupid to think he would actually treat us nice?!_ Meg yelled to herself as she stared into the campfire with Nea snuggled next to her. She had believed that maybe, _just maybe_ , the killer would have been a bit more lenient with her friends after he had his fun with her a few days back. He didn’t make any attempts to hurt her during the trial, rather he kept trying to grab her whenever he saw her, and God dang did she get a bit too excited about that.

But seeing how he kept treating Nea as usual made her furious at herself. She was so stupidly stupid to think The Trapper would try to make her pleased in any way- he was a ruthless killer after all. So she let her self-anger manifest in the only way she thought of at the moment, by hitting him. She wasn’t as scared of him as before, so it came almost as instinct to jump on him and try to wrestle him to the ground, even if she knew he was way too big for her to succeed. Still, her anger pushed her on. She was so angry at him for hurting her dear friend, at _herself_ for having such stupid, wishful thinking… but above all, she was angry that for those few minutes of being chased by him in the beginning she had hoped they could see each other outside of the trial again.

All she could think about these past few days was when and where she would see him… and also _how_ he would get her, mostly imagining him from behind. She tried really hard to imagine their third meet-up _without_ any sex involved, but it was turning out pretty darn difficult. Every scenario ended up with her somewhere on the floor and him at some angle behind her. She couldn’t imagine him taking her from in front yet. That felt too intimate.

Regardless, behind the pretext of wanting to be overtaken by the hulking killer, she was yearning to feel _wanted_ again. Now _that_ was the kicker since the last thing she needed was to play the part of the messed up chick with daddy issues. But if daddy issues were what got him behind her like last time, well…

“So… is something bothering you?” Nea asked, snapping Meg out of her pensive state.

Meg turned to her and squinted her eyes, , “Uh… nah, just… I think I’m gonna take that run now.”

Nea wanted to ask her to stay a bit more, but she had already asked that of her an hour or so ago so she just smiled and nodded. _I’ll talk with her once she comes back,_ she told herself as Meg got up- taking her sweet warmth with her.

Meg stretched once she was standing, thinking of where The Trapper might appear as the slow chill of the air was more than likely signaling his distance. The hunting lodge was her best bet at this point. He had her there last time, so maybe going back would help with what she was planning to do. She looked over at Nea and smiled, “I’ll be back in a bit.” Before anyone else could ask where she was going, Meg took off running.

“Where’s she going?” Quentin asked as everyone looked to Nea.

“Oh, um. She just needs to relieve some stress, I suppose.” She replied as she looked down at her damaged leg. Well, it wasn’t like she could’ve offered to join.

 

* * *

 

 

The increasing coldness and thickening of the fog made Meg’s heart race as she approached the hunting lodge. So he _was_ here… Was he expecting her? The closer she got, the faster her mind scrambled to formulate a half-decent plan. What could she possibly say to make him leave her friends alone? Was it even possible for him to _not_ hurt them? Was he some mindless minion of the Entity’s that had no say in what he did? But then why would he restrain himself around her?

Before she could even get to sorting out the questions, an all-too-familiar chill ran down her spine. She stopped dead on her tracks and scanned the area. The lodge was mere feet away from her as she walked towards the side, where the pile of firewood sat. It had been a while since she was last here with Nea, but she remembered how everything stayed. She looked around the firewood, noticing that some logs appeared to have been moved, but without much time to think further about it, a loud snap rang across the woods.

Meg jumped and stumbled behind, hitting her back on the firewood and finally came face to face with the infamous killer. The Trapper was sitting atop a large tree stump a few feet away. He was looking down at the bear trap he held in his hands and Meg could barely make out the dark, red stains that covered the metal teeth.

 _Was that the one from the trial?_ Meg wondered to herself as a hint of anger sprouted in her. “Is that the one that got Nea’s foot?” she asked him aloud, looking at his masked face for a response, but his gaze stayed down. He was scratching at the dried blood.

She pushed herself away from the firewood and slowly walked towards the killer, hands hovering to her sides in anticipation of an attack. But something in her gut told her he wouldn’t hurt her, at least not right now.

She cleared her throat, “You, uh… Why didn’t you attack me?” she said in a shaky voice. The Trapper didn’t acknowledge her, instead he kept picking at the thick layer of dried blood on his trap, flickering away the small specks that fell on his hand. She was starting to get irritated, his lack of response was both frightening and just plain rude. “I came to make a deal… for my friends.” She said as she took a few steps forward and standing a few feet from him.

After a few seconds he finally looked up at her, but he remained silent and his eerie mask started to unsettle her as she felt his gaze bore into her. “I have spared their lives once. Do not expect me to do so again.” He told her, his deep voice stirring tinges of excitement and fear in her core, just a little more and she would have moaned. But she kept her composure and willed herself to stay focused, _Spared their lives once? Like in the last trial?_ She was about to ask him what he meant, but knowing that he would most likely not answer, she tightened her jaws shut. Well, she had to say something, but what?

The Trapper tossed aside his bear trap and stood up, his gaze remained on her as he took a few strides to reach her, leaving a foot or two of distance. “Tell me, what do you have to offer that I have not already taken?” he asked her. He could sense her fear, although it was much less than before. Something else dominated her state of being, and it nearly made him feral. _Lust_.

Meg was forced to look up to meet his gaze, but she couldn’t keep a straight face. The smell of blood, sweat, and oil overtook her as her lips parted to deepen her breathing… how the hell could those things make her feel intoxicated? “…Well… what do you want that I can give?” she nearly whispered.

Behind his mask he smirked, his little blood bird was finally in his hands, just as the Entity had promised. Many cycles had he watched her from afar, calculating just how he would approach her. Just as a song bird, she would have taken flight had he been too hostile. No, she needed a certain kind of gentleness to entice her, and once she became too curious for her own good he would trap her. He would submit her unto him and she would become only _his_.

He closed the distance between them and brought up his hands to hold her head, his fingers gently grasping into her lovely red hair and his thumbs caressing her soft cheeks. Her eyes nearly fluttered shut and a small moan escaped her rose-colored lips. Yes, she was his now. “You will not deny me when I seek you.” He told her as his right thumb started stroking her bottom lip, “…and in return, I will not sacrifice your companions.”

The soft touch of his calloused thumb finally made Meg close her eyes, she needed to think but nothing would let her. She shifted a little as she felt herself already getting wet and her hands started trembling. She needed to say something but her lungs wouldn’t stop constricting in her chest. Without thinking, she grabbed him- her small hands barely wrapping around half of his forearms, and opened her eyes to look into the dark holes that stood in place of his own, “…You promise?” she asked in a whisper.

His thumb slowly pushed inside her mouth and immediately her tongue lapped at it, her eyes remaining on him as her mouth closed. She sucked gently and he groaned, she was turning out to be far more pleasing than he had imagined. “…Yes.” He nearly groaned out as he slipped his thumb out and let her go.

He started to unbuckle his left overall strap as Meg stayed still, knowing well what was going to happen and shifting her legs together in anticipation. He finally got both straps loose and pulled down his overalls to his hips, revealing his naked, broad chest. His skin was all covered in those weird, orange lines but it still kept a light-brown hue as the clothing fell further down, pass his navel and uncovering the thick patch of black hair that sat on his pelvis. Her eyes wondered across his body, noticing that he didn’t have a sculpted abdomen like the guys she usually saw at the gym. No, his large abdomen was hardened with pure muscle. Monster or man, she couldn’t deny that his powerful figure was unimaginably alluring.

Her gaze started lowering as his overalls kept dropping lower until his rigid dick came uncovered- she wasn’t fully prepared to see it so close. It was just like the rest of him, orange lines and all, but the mushroom-like head remained almost normal. Well, as normal as she could have imagined one to be. Despite not having seen any others before, she knew it was abnormally large- it’s width bigger than her wrist and the length nearly a foot, but she had no desire to measure it, she just wanted to feel it in her. As she licked her lips, his dick twitched and a slow stream of liquid dripped out. She never knew she could groan so desperately.

He grabbed her left shoulder and started pushing her down, his left hand grabbing at his member and stroking it. Her mind nearly went blank as she looked up at him, moving to kneel down. _He wants me to… give him a blowjob…?_ She thought to herself, fear now overtaking her as she realized that she would have to do something she had only ever heard of… heck, was any blowing even involved?! She was on her knees and inches away from the throbbing member as she licked her lips once more, “I… I don’t know how to do this…” she told him aloud, her nerves getting the best of her.

She heard him chuckle as the hand that held her shoulder was now caressing the back of her head, “You will learn.” He told her, slowly pushing her head forward until she had no choice but to act upon it.

Just as with his thumb, she licked his tip with her tongue, but it felt nothing like the calloused pad. It was silky and soft and tasted mildly… Sweet? She closed her mouth to savor the flavor, it reminded her of baking soda and cream pop, an oddly pleasant combination she never had. Wetting her tongue, she licked him again and he let out a small groan with a shift of his legs. She gave him three more licks, letting her tongue glide across the slit of his head until she decided it was fine enough to taste the rest of him.

For being a loud mouth- as many people called her, Meg had an actual, small mouth. She was never willing to get anything more than a single patty burger in fear that anything bigger would dislocate her jaw. But right now, she could care less if her jaw dislocated or not, she was going to make him fit.

It was a bit uncomfortable taking in the rest of him, his width making her open her mouth much wider than ever. The taste started shifting to a more salty, bitter one as his foreskin moved across her tongue. But the taste and the feel only made her more excited. The Trapper was letting her have his dick in her mouth, now who the hell would have thought that was possible?

Deciding that blowing had no part in the act, Meg sucked. And he groaned, _loudly_. She slowly moved her tongue around his head as she tried moving him in and out of her mouth, giving him a few sucks in between the movements. It was an awkward combination at first but she finally found a rhythm she could focus on. It was a random song’s melody that popped into her mind and she couldn’t quite remember it’s name.

His breathing started becoming more erratic and his hand kept pushing her head further in front, but once his tip hit the back of her throat she gagged. By instinct, Meg pushed away from him, coughing at the near ticklish feel of having him brush along her throat. She was about to apologize and tell him to calm down but without a warning he lowered himself and roughly pushed her down. The sudden impact of her head against the dirt ground caused her to become dazed. Her vision blurred and all she could see was The Trapper's outline as he hovered over her, pulling at her pants.

She tried to slap his hands away and to tell him to hold on, but her movements were uncoordinated. Everything was slowly turning and he was going in and out of focus. She gave up and let her head fall back, closing her eyes and letting the world feel like it was spinning out of control. The last thing she felt was the killer's hands grabbing ahold of her bare thighs and spreading them apart, and the last thing she heard was her own moan. Then she saw black.

 

* * *

 

 

Waking up from a concussion sucked. Waking up from a concussion without any pants and feeling all wet around her womanly parts sucked even more. _Like hell if I’m gonna start calling it my hoo-ha,_ she told herself as she rubbed her eyes.

Once she assured that she was no longer dizzy, she got herself up and reached for her pants, but her lime green panties were no where in sight. _Ugh! Of course he had to be a perv about it,_ she groaned to herself as she reluctantly put on her pants and squirmed in discomfort at the feel of wet spandex. As she pulled them up above her knees she noticed red marks along the inner side of her thighs. She inspected them frantically, hoping they weren’t some nasty rash or STD the damn killer gave her, but upon further inspection, she noticed that they were bruises that were barely forming. She panicked and pulled her pants all the way up, wondering just what the hell The Trapper had done to her unconscious body, but a small voice in her mind reminded her of some little things called hickeys. She gasped, _Did he take his mask off… to give me hickeys?!_

Her run back to camp was a blur as she kept imagining a mask-less Trapper kissing her along her legs. _What does he look like?_ She kept asking herself as different faces of men flashed through her mind. Would his lips be as rough as his hands? Would they be plump or thin? What color would his eyes be? Did he use his tongue on her? That last question made her chew her bottom lip in excitement as she kept running past the trees, the soft glow of the campfire finally coming into view.

She felt awful that thinking of him was causing her to feel so elated, but at the same time, she couldn’t bring herself to regret it. Just once she wanted to feel like a man would want her, just once she wanted to feel girly and ditzy and just plain… sexy! Although she cringed at the word, she couldn’t find any other word to describe the way he made her feel. The way he groaned when she had him in her mouth was surreal, and the intensity in which he had last pulled at her pants was amazing. He _desired_ her and she couldn’t deny that she was wanting him just as bad. But… it was all for her friends, right?

The thought of her friends and what they would think if they found out made her crash back to reality. She stopped a few yards away from the camp, _If they ever catch me_ … she closed her eyes and groaned. The mess such a revelation would cause would surely be unbearable. Dwight’s disappointment and Claudette’s hurt would kill her, and Nea… God, she couldn’t imagine hurting her friends that way, but The Trapper made a deal with her and she would make sure he kept his word.

Absentmindedly, Meg started walking into camp, not noticing Nea sitting against a tree that stood right outside the tents. “Hey.” Nea said aloud, causing Meg to stumble a little as she was caught off guard.

Meg nervously laughed, “Woah, didn’t see you there!”

Nea smiled and patted the ground right next to her. Meg made her way over and took a seat next to her friend, making sure to get settled shoulder-to-shoulder. “So, who dumped you here?” the redhead joked. She snuggled herself closer to the Swede, letting her softness and warmth fill her with the warm fuzzy feelings.

The young tagger giggled and rested her head against Meg’s right shoulder, trying to muster the courage to start her confession, “Kate and Laurie helped me walk to the tent but I dragged myself over here.” She said meekly.

“Oh… but why?” Meg chuckled, not entirely sure why she would try something like that with her injured foot.

Nea shrugged, “Because.”

They sat in silence as Meg rested her head on Nea’s and imagined what everyone would think once The Trapper failed to hurt them. It would be a large burden off her shoulders to no longer worry about anyone getting hurt by his hands, but… Would they get suspicious? The worry of getting caught once again plagued her mind, but Nea’s soft voice snapped her out of it once again, “So… I know I have probably said this a dozen times, but… thanks. For saving me.”

Meg lifted her head and turned to her, causing Nea to do the same. _Anything for you guys,_ Meg thought to herself and smiled, “Hey, as long as I’m around, that bastard won’t get you. I promise.” She said as she grabbed Nea’s left hand and gave her an assuring squeeze. She looked straight into Nea’s eyes, trying to emit her feeling of confidence and protection as the steel blue orbs suddenly shut.

The moment Nea kissed her, Meg’s mind came to a screeching halt…

First, since when was Nea gay? Second, since when did Nea like her? And third, _ohmyGodIjusthadTheTrapper’sdickinmymouthandnowNeaiskissingme_.

The kiss was innocent, really, but Meg’s eyes remained wide as she felt Nea press against her. She was caught between pushing her away or staying still in hopes that her lack of response would nudge her to stop. She decided against rejecting her as to not hurt her feelings, but it was immediately clear that her lack of movement wouldn’t dissuade Nea since Meg felt her tongue touch her bottom lip. _Nope nope nope nope!_ Meg panicked.

“Well _fuck_!” Ace’s sudden voice startled both girls, making Meg push away from Nea without thinking.

“Oh my God, Ace!” Meg yelled out as Nea tried to make herself small by going into a fetal position. The con-man was standing a few feet away, behind a tree with his hands at the front button of his pants.

“I just came to take a piss, don’t mind me, ya know.” He said as he started unbuttoning his pants and shifted away from their view, “Ya ladies are old enough to do what ya want. Just pretend I ain’t here to watch.” He said with a peek from behind the tree and a smug look plastered on his face.

“Holy shit dude, stop being a creep!” Meg yelled and reached for anything small to throw at him, but could only find twigs and leaves. She groaned in frustration and grabbed Nea’s arm, “Come on Nea, I’ll take you to your tent.” She told her as Nea looked towards Ace and back at her with a look of guilt in her eyes.

As both girls got up and started fixing themselves to make the small walk to the tents, Ace snickered, “Hey! Don’t forget to keep it down ova’ there!”

“Shut the hell up, Ace!” Meg shouted as she walked further away with Nea holding her over the shoulders. Her cheeks were bright red and her eyes were still wide in disbelief. Now how the hell would she get out of this one…

Once they reached Nea’s tent Meg helped her inside. They remained silent as she helped her take off her boots and socks, the air feeling tense but mostly awkward. The young Swede wanted to apologize and talk about it. She wanted to beg her to consider trying _this_ for a while. Just a try.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then we can talk?” the redhead suggested as Nea got comfortable in her sleeping bag. She was praying that she would agree since she _really_ didn’t want to talk about it right now, not with the fear of screwing something up.

Nea nodded and smiled, “Sure… just, you know, sorry.”

Meg smiled back and made her way out of the tent. She was close to telling her that it wasn’t a problem since it was probably an accident, but it was definitely _not_ an accident… unless friends accidently kissed each other all the time. The image of a fumbling Dwight flashed through her mind. _Ew, no_.

She had to find Ace and straighten everything out ASAP. He was worse than her grandma with gossip! But before she could even head to where he last was, she heard talking coming from the campfire and a loud gasp from Kate. Ace was telling them something.

Meg sprinted towards them with a fury unlike any other, her eyes now wide with anger. She finally approached them and nearly tackled him, “What the hell are you telling them?!” she yelled out.

Almost everyone let out a gasp as Meg grabbed a hold of Ace’s jacket, a look of crazy on her face. He put his hands to the front to push her away but she grabbed on tighter. “Hey, take it easy, alright! I wasn’t tellin’ ‘em shit!” he told her as he looked around to make sure someone would tell her he was right.

“Like hell ya were, Ace! Ya said ya won the bet!” Kate shrieked out, looking a bit upset as she crossed her arms.

“Bet? What bet?!” Meg yelled out to him again, roughly yanking at his jacket, “What did you bet on, _you shit_?” She said in her most threatening voice.

“I didn’t do-“

“Wait, are you _actually_ a lesbian or is he pulling our legs?” Quentin asked as he looked at Meg with his hand on his chin. How didn’t he see it?! He was adamant that Meg was straight when they had the discussion on whether or not her and Nea would hook up. She had to be, he just knew it! Now Nea, she was a hard one to guess since she was Swedish and people from Sweden ate funky fish and crackers and were a little weird. Maybe they were bi and experimenting? Maybe they finally settled on each other since the only other males available were himself- a minor, three old guys, and good, old fashion Jake… Well now, he would have given Jake a shot if he was them!

“Who’s a lesbian?” Claudette asked as she appeared from behind, having come back from her visit with Jake. She stood behind Quentin and stayed looking at Meg and Ace. _Are they talking about..._  She wondered to herself as her mouth open with surprise, “Meg, are you-“

“Look! We just kissed, alright?!” Meg told them with restraint as she looked back towards the tent, she didn’t want Nea to hear this bullshit. “We’re not dating or anything like that… we just kissed… that was all.” She said looking back at Ace. She let him go and motioned to choke him but instead groaned and took off. She didn’t know where she was heading, she just wanted to get away to think.

Claudette looked towards Dwight and Kate but they looked almost as clueless as everyone else. She exhaled and followed after Meg. She didn’t really know what she could tell her, but if Meg was denying having something with Nea- even after everything she had seen during and after their trial, then maybe she was feeling ashamed of it all. And that was something she couldn’t allow her best friend to feel.

Thankfully, Meg wasn’t running like she usually did, so Claudette was able to catch up to her with some fast walking. “Hey, hold on.” She told her, finally catching up to her and grabbing her right arm, “Hey, can you slow down a sec?”

Meg reluctantly stopped and frowned, “Nope.” Then she continued walking.

Claudette laughed, “Meg, come on, stop. Please?”

“Why? Just so you can question me about my sexuality or-or I don’t know! Gah!” she yelled out as she stopped and furiously rubbed her face, feeling too tired and frustrated to deal with anything.

“What? No! Hey, it’s not like it’s a bad thing…” Claudette responded as she started rubbing Meg’s shoulders. Comforting her like a child always seemed to work perfectly. “Look, whatever you’re feeling, it’s okay. You shouldn’t be ashamed to feel something towards Nea. Ever.”

Meg chewed her lip and scowled, “..Shit, Claudette, like, I don’t even know, you know?”

Claudette giggled and grabbed her cheeks, squeezing them together lightly as Meg frowned deeper, “Hey, sometimes you can’t control who you fall for, right? But if Nea feels the same then that’s great!” She assured her.

This wasn’t anything close to what she imagined her friendship with Nea would end up like. She had imagined them as running pals, tagging buddies, a ragtag team of ass-kicking women… not girlfriends! She didn’t even like girls! She groaned and closed her eyes, hoping that for once, the Entity could kill her and be done with it all.

“I’ll leave you alone, okay? Just don’t think you can’t come to me for help with _anything_. There’s nothing you can do to feel ashamed of, alright?” Claudette reassured her, letting go of her cheeks and giving her a tight hug.

 _Haha, oooh yes there is!_ Meg scram inside her mind, but forced herself to smile and hug her friend back, “Yeah, yeah, I know. But seriously, it was just a kiss.” She told her as they ended the hug. Claudette patted her head and smiled.

“Of course it was.” Claudette told her teasingly before running away laughing as Meg tried to kick her in the butt.

“Leave, you punk!” Meg laughed, watching her friend walk away giggling to herself. Well shoot, what could she do now? Claudette seriously thought she had feelings for Nea, everyone else probably thought they were a thing, and Nea was probably wanting to _become_ a thing. She groaned loudly once again… regardless of it all, she just wished she could be back home with her mom, snuggling together while watching their favorite soap opera. _Momma always knew what do_ … She finally thought, walking away to mindlessly wander the forest. But it disturbed her that for once, she could no longer remember her mother’s lovely face.

 

* * *

  
The Clown always gave Claudette the creeps, second to The Hillbilly, recently. So when she started the trial and heard his raunchy laugh, she almost wretched in disgust and nervousness. Much to her dismay, she was alone for the first few minutes of the trial and worked on a nearby generator all by herself. She had heard David’s loud coughing nearby so she knew who at least one person was from the other three, but he was being chased by the killer. She knew he was close by as her heartbeat started rising when she heard his grunting hush away. After a few minutes, hers was the first generator to be powered on, followed by one in the far distance and one a few yards to her right.

She could sense a generator between her and the third that was powered on and hoped that whoever had fixed it would go to the same one. She couldn’t stand being alone with The Clown chasing them around. She shuddered with the thought of being grabbed by him.

Making her way over to the fourth generator, she saw some movement near some rubble, and the tan colored jacket gave away who it was. _Jake_! She excitedly squealed to herself as she snuck up behind him. He was starting to work on the generator and she slowly crouched behind him, hoping to surprise him even though he rarely got startled- unless it was Laurie’s brother, of course.

Before she could poke the back of his neck, he turned around and grabbed her hand, causing her to yelp in surprise. Acting as quickly as he always did, he covered her mouth with his free hand and fought to hold back a laugh.

“How did you know it was me?” she asked him with a whine, her voice muffled by his hand. He simply shook his head as he smiled and held back his laughter.

“I think the fact that you squealed a few seconds back gave you away.” He told her, letting her mouth go but still grabbing on to her hand. They stood up and he pulled her in closer, almost a breath away from her face, “Or it could’ve been the lavender that I smelled a few feet away.” He smirked.

“Hey, they don’t smell bad, you know.” She told him with a smile, her eyes falling to his lips as she shuddered with the warmth of his breath.

He wanted to kiss her so fucking bad, the urge nearly making him forget they were in a trial, but he fought against it- he had to. “Here.” he told her as he reached into his jacket and took out a small, rusty screwdriver, “You can use this so we can finish faster.”

She looked down and grabbed it, her smile fading to smirk, “Oh, right. The generator.” She said as she moved away from him, taking her hand out of his grasp. She had to concentrate, she kept telling herself. A trial was not the place to be getting flustered, much less getting it on with Jake. But boy, if they ever tried that… _No young lady! Concentrate!_ She cleared her throat as she got to working on the generator next to Jake, who was already concentrating on the power supply box. The look of complete concentration made him look so attractive, what with his light scowl and his tightened jaw. _Just a little more,_ she thought to herself as she started connecting the wires, _and he would look the way he does when we’re together._

In the distance, a fourth generator was powered on followed by a loud ‘ _Oh shit!_ ’

Claudette gasped and looked to Jake, “Is that-“

“The kid. Yeah.” Jake replied before she could finish, recognizing all too well Quentin’s panicking voice. They were so close to completing the generator when they heard heavy footsteps running towards them. Without having to turn, they both knew it was David.

“Claudette! Thank God! I’ve been chased by tha’ fat fuck the whole bloody time!” The Englishman breathed out as he stopped near a window to catch his breath. He was bleeding from his left wrist but he had a half-decent wrapping on, most likely his own work. “Hadn’t had a chance to fix a bloody gen!” he yelled out as he adjusted his wrapping.

The generator finally powered on and the exit gates rang loudly with one being very close by. Claudette looked towards Jake, “Do you think we can find Quentin?” she asked him as she frowned. The Clown’s toxic gas was one hell of a weapon and it scared her to think of going up against him. But she wasn’t going to leave poor Quentin behind and having Jake around would make it so much easier.

Jake nodded but David grabbed Claudette’s shoulder, “Don’t worry. I’ll get tha’ boy, me lady.” He said with a smirk, “Tha’ bloody fuck hasn’t caught me yet and I ain’t plannin’ on letting him any time soon. A’right?” he told her as she smiled at him, he was always so cocky and she had grown to love him for it.

“Okay, then Jake and I will open this gate, but we won’t leave until we hear you yell to us.” She told him as he nodded his head in agreement and shot a glance at Jake.

“Take good care of her, mate.” David told him before taking off running to the other exit.

Jake shook his head, the brute was too dense to realize that he always took good care of Claudette, with one of the only rare exceptions being of her last encounter with The Hillbilly. They both took off to open the gate, and as he worked on loosening the switch he thought about asking her if she had gone up against the killer anymore.

“So… what’s up?” she asked him as she stood swaying side-to-side, holding her hands together and blushing.

He smirked. He had always loved seeing her act so shy, ever since the first time he met her, “Uh, opening a gate. What about you?”

She nervously giggled. “Oh, nothing… just wondering if maybe I can visit you a little later than usual?” She asked him as she looked away in embarrassment. Talking about their late night rendezvous’ was still too much for her to handle casually. _Darn it Claudette, stop being so awkward! Act cool!_ She yelled at herself.

The switch got stuck and he had to start yanking it down, but once it moved he looked back at her with a concerned look, “Is something the matter?” he asked, internally worrying if she was already regretting starting their… agreement. _Fuck, not this early on…_

She smiled at him, his concern making her a little too happy, but come on! Jake rarely showed emotion so to see him get worried about this was absolutely flattering, “Oh, no! Its just that I kind of told Dwight I would help him with something and he really wanted to hold it off for later, so…”

 _Oh, Dwight._ He bitterly thought to himself, not wanting to think about just what that _something_ was. “It’s up to you. It’s all on your terms, remember?” he told her as the gate finally buzzed and shook.

“Right…” she replied as she moved in front of the gates, “But I did say you can do anything whenever you want, so I was just making sure it was okay with you.” She explained as the gates opened and she walked past them. She knew they weren’t committed to one another, but it felt wrong for her to change things without his consent. She saw him as much more than a friend, after all.

As they stood near the ground that divided the trial from the rest of the forest, Jake looked to her and smirked, “Well… if you aren’t coming on time, maybe-“

Before he could finish his sentence, they heard David’s distant victory yell of ‘ _Fuck yeah_!’ and Claudette let out a breath of relief. Everyone made it out safe and sound, and she didn’t have to see The Clown at all. Now _this_ was a good trial.

She grabbed Jake’s right hand and crossed the invisible, division line. Smiling at the glorious feeling of escaping another trial, she wanted to hear what he was going to tell her, “So what were you about to tell me?” she asked him as they walked slowly, holding hands like a typical couple.

He cleared his throat, “I was just going to suggest, you know… maybe doing something to hold me over in the mean time… Since you’ll be heading over later and-“

She didn’t allow him to finish- again, as she dragged him towards a tree and leaned against it, moving his hands to her waist, and then started unbuttoning her blouse. He didn’t hesitate to pull her against him, causing her to yelp as he attacked her neck with hungry kisses, desperately caressing her waist until his hands reached for the front of her jeans.

It was damn near intoxicating to think she was this willing to let him take her so easily, but he was well aware that David and the kid would find them soon. Time was of the essence, and he _needed_ to get her off. As she struggled to open her blouse, he finally unbuttoned her pants and slid his hands inside, earning a shaky moan from her. His fingers caressed her outer folds, which were already wet with need and he carefully let them enter in between. He let them explore her inner folds, their wet heat causing him to groan as his dick twitched almost painfully in his pants. Had he not been assured she would go to him tonight, he would have fucked her right then, but he maintained his restraint. No, tonight he would fuck her long and hard, Dwight be damned.

Every stroke of her clit made her breath hitch, his large fingers moved so frantically that she barely had time to enjoy the electrifying touch the small bud produced, “A little higher, please…” she whispered to him, and immediately moaned as he complied, rubbing her clit directly. She couldn’t help but close her eyes and let herself immerse in her ecstasy. His fingers moved a little too rough, but his soft sucks and kisses on the side of her neck were too intense to allow her to speak, then she felt his other hand grab at her bra and nearly moaned too loud as his fingers caressed her right breast. He played with her nipple for a while and it made her shudder, every soft pinch and flicker bringing her closer to coming undone.

Hearing her moans quicken and her body tremble made it unbearable and he started grinding against her. Just the thought of making her come was getting him close, but he needed _more_. His fingers gave her clit a final stroke before he slid further back, reaching her entrance. He kissed her up to her ear, “Come for me, baby.” he whispered to her as he pushed two fingers inside, her vaginal walls clasping them tight as she let out a whimpering moan. He didn’t hold back as he moved inside of her, pushing hard and pulling out with a stroke of his fingers, making her nearly cry as she threw her head against the tree while clenching her mouth shut. She was so close, he could feel it with every shiver and tightening of her core, his fingers drenched in her juices. And then they heard David’s laughter.

She gasped and pushed herself away from him, frantically trying to button her pants and blouse. She wanted to cry from frustration! She was so close, so so so _so_ close! She looked towards Jake who was leaning against the tree, arms crossed and looking very irritated, “Wow... I think tonight we have a lot to finish, huh?” She breathlessly chuckled as she adjusted her pants. _Good to go! Like nothing happened!_ She told herself as she looked ahead and saw David and Quentin walking towards them.

“…Yeah.” He replied, his voice a little shaky. He wanted nothing more than to choke the fucking life out of King. His fingers twitched with the ghost sensation of being inside her and he groaned, pushing himself away from the tree and walking beside her.

“What up?!” Quentin yelled at them with a throw of his hands in the air, making ridiculous gestures that were meant to be gang signs but looked like badly imitated sign language.

“Glad to see you guys made it out alive!” she smiled at them, looking at Jake as if he would agree, but his stayed motionless with a scowl. She chuckled nervously, “Okay, let’s go!”

“Bloody hell, I thought we’d be havin’ a tougher time with the fuckin’ clown. The cunt was getting’ too sloppy if ya ask me.” David said as the group started making their way back to camp.

“I don’t mind that!” Claudette chuckled.

David scoffed and stretched out his arms, “Just wish we can fight tha’ fuckers back. Then I wouldn’t mind being in this bloody place.” He looked over at Jake, “How ‘bout it, mate? A good ‘ole brawl with ‘em would be dandy, no?”

Claudette also looked over at Jake and smiled. She was trying to imagine him shirtless and fighting off The Clown side-by-side with David. Now _that_ would be something to see.

“Yeah. I suppose.” Jake replied with a shake of his head and David gave a hearty laugh.

“Brilliant, mate! I’ll hold ya to it!” The brawler shouted as his stomach made an audible grumble. “Well fuck, now I’m bloody hungry.” He grumbled.

“Don’t worry, I’ll cook something up as soon as we get back!” Claudette told him as she looked to Jake, “You’ll stay to eat, right?” she asked him with a pleading smile. His small head nod made her grin and she went off to list all the kinds of questionable dishes she could make, including her rat veggie soup.

As David and Claudette continued talking about food- with David trying to convince her _not_ to use rats, Quentin’s smile started fading. Things were getting relatively easier for them, and while it seemed to be a good thing, he had a gut feeling that it wasn’t. Everyone started easing up at camp, making things seem almost… normal.

Quentin exhaled. Things were definitely becoming different, as if they were slowly coming to accept that they were stuck here indefinitely. And now with the batteries working and making things come to life, they were becoming more complacent. No, he wouldn’t allow it. They had to keep fighting to leave this place! But… how can they fight something they still don’t fully comprehend?

And what about the killers, were they easing up on them on purpose… Or was the Entity planning something out? So many questions started bombarding the teen’s mind and he nearly groaned out in frustration. In need to calm himself down, he looked towards Jake- he would help him find some answers! Maybe he could go chat with him tonight.

Jake was walking alongside Claudette on the opposite end. He had his hands tucked inside the pockets of his jacket and he looked as indifferent as always. But every few seconds he would glance at Claudette and the corners of his mouth would twitch. Quentin nearly gasped.

 _Wait a second_ … Quentin thought to himself, _Is he_ … before he could finish his thought, he caught a glimpse of Jake’s left arm slowly graze Claudette’s right one, almost too slowly.

If someone was to take a look at Quentin in that very moment, they would have thought him as very weird… or normal, depending on how well they knew him. He had a childish grin plastered on his face and his pace slowed to a near stop. _Well now_ , he told himself in a badly imitated, 1940s detective voice, _looks like my buddy Jake isn’t as single as I thought. Ha!_

Oh, yeah. He was definitely paying him a visit tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay! I had a family emergency and couldn't write for a while. :[


	11. Sincerely

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello once more! I am so, so, so sorry about the delay in my update. I lost someone very dear to me back in November and it took more than half a year to get my inspiration to write back! But alas, I truly am back... Yeah! :D So without further ado. I hope y'all can enjoy this (quite long) chapter! Please provide me with any feedback, I need to know if I got my groove back \\(^-^)/

 

* * *

 

“So, you _will_ be staying for dinner, right?”

 

The sound of Claudette’s soft voice startled me.

 

We had been walking for well past a few minutes and the mindless talk between her and King had caused me to lose myself in thought for a moment. I could hardly recall what they were talking about- I’m sure it had to do with frog legs or some other shit, but I just knew that at some point she was going to ask me if I was going to stay, again. I was nowhere near the mood to do so, not with the entire group at least, and much less with Dwight. But I stopped denying my pathetic desire for pleasing her a while back. I sighed, much to my dismay.

 

I turned to face her and was not surprised when I was confronted with her pleading smile. _Fuck_. Good thing she was not aware of her effect on me. “Uh... Yeah.” I muttered as her smile widened.

 

“Great! Then I’ll need to make something extra delicious!” she happily exclaimed. Her child-like excitement for having me over was… cute. Damn, I almost had to fight back a smile.

 

“Oy! So if he weren’t to stay, you’d make sum sludge? Not fair Mama Claudette!” King yelled out as he wrapped his right arm over her shoulder and shook his head. “But I suppose s’long as it ain’t ya’ rat sludge it’d be fine.”

 

Almost. I _almost_ had to fight back a smile.

 

I couldn’t help but get annoyed with King. He was so casual about touching her and she was so receptive of it all. It wasn’t that I didn’t like him- although his brash attitude was annoying most of the time, I just couldn’t stand seeing everyone touch her so openly. Even the way her and Meg would hold hands was starting to get on my nerves, and when she would hug Dwight-

 

“Hey, I thought you liked it?!” She told King with a nudge of her elbow. I turned away as they started playfully arguing about his sudden dislike of her meal, which I never had a chance to try, if I recalled correctly. As much as it bothered me to admit it, there were far too many things I miss out about her that I have started to ask myself the same question as of late, _how the fuck would she even give me a chance if I was nearly a stranger to her?_ It was almost a year since we first met and at this point, the emotional distance we had between us was becoming more sizeable with. Each. Fucking. Episode. Of. Self. Fucking. Pity.

 

Her meals, her long conversations, her innocent banter, her casual touch… nearly everything that exists beyond our brief meetings, I know so little about. The more I see her smile and laugh and just _be_ around everyone, the more I get so overwhelming… emotional… _Would she ever be this way with me?_

 

Among their laughter, I exhale. I am _not_ good with emotions. I never have been. Pretty fucking high probability that I never will be.

 

And yet she makes me feel so many.

 

“I liked it!” The kid’s sudden yell snapped me out of yet another moment of pitiful thoughts and for once, I wasn’t pissed that he distracted me.

 

“Ha! See! At least one person isn’t ashamed to say they liked it.” Claudette told King aloud, nodding to the kid and finally leaning against King’s side. The way they walked closely was too unbearably casual that the dull ache in my stomach intensified and I immediately looked away.

 

I heard the kid laugh, “Heck yeah, and everyone knows my opinion matters double, dude!”

 

Claudette laughed and I instinctively looked straight at her, but before I could turn away she caught my gaze. “What about you Jake? Did you like that special rat _sludge_ I made a while back?” she asked me with a small smile.

 

Before I could open my mouth to tell her I never tried it since it accidentally spilled that day, I heard one of the most irritating sounds I had the fucking displeasure of hearing yet again…

 

“You guys finally m-m-made it back!”

 

_Fucking Dwight._

 

“Is everyone back already?” Claudette asked him as she gently pushed away from King, and almost immediately, Dwight jogged over to grab her hand.

 

“Yes! B-but I need to sh-show you something!” He excitedly told her and hurriedly pulled her away. She laughed and started asking him what it was about as he took her towards the tool shed.

 

Standing outside was Laurie, who was grinning and enthusiastically waving the hand-held radio I had fixed a while back, and Feng, with her arms crossed and wearing her signature smirk- the same one she had whenever she accomplished her personal challenges, such as outrunning The Hag.

 

I decided that my dislike for Dwight was far more intense than my curiosity at the moment, so I made my way to the campfire. Whatever they needed to show Claudette would probably be discussed during dinner either way.

 

As I approached the campfire I could see Ace was sitting in front of it, oddly quiet. He was wearing his usual cap and sunglasses with a lit cigarette in hand, but I could tell there was something on his mind. The son of a bitch always had some shitty remark just for me, but like hell if I was going to ask him anything.

 

Bill was laying on the other log so I had no choice but to sit next to Ace. My body was starting to ache, and although I would normally find it unpleasant, the fact that I was starting to _feel_ like normal again was welcoming. It had been far too long since I last felt like I could actually need some sleep.

 

“Sup Ace!” the kid loudly greeted, moving over next to Ace and giving him a pat on the shoulder.

 

Ace nodded his head, “Not much, kid.”

 

From my view, I saw his right hand haphazardly bandaged. The large, bloodied stain that covered the wrappings made it obvious that it was recent.

 

“Well ho-ly shit. What happened to your hand?” The kid asked him as he instinctively held his own to his chest and grimaced. I didn’t blame him. With the rate the blood was seeping through the bandage, it was apparent that the wound was worse than it seemed.

 

“What? It’s just’a scratch.” Ace replied as he lifted his hand and let out a pained groan.

 

The kid looked horrified, “Like fuck it is, dude! Shit!”

 

There were many things I try to avoid over-analyzing, but the fact that wounds were lasting much longer outside of trials was one thing I could not help but think of. Going through the whole ordeal with Claudette and The Hillbilly was more than enough to scare me shitless that I hadn’t paid any attention to the state of the others. The last few trials left me with a few cuts and bruises that were barely disappearing, but seeing the damage that was done on Ace was becoming unnerving.

 

Despite the fact that I didn’t like the fucker, I was finding it difficult to keep my mouth shut. A moment ago I was feeling fucking _pity_ for myself in regards to Claudette and how little I was involved in her everyday life, and now I had the opportunity to start changing the situation. Fuck socializing, and fuck Ace. But above all, fuck me.

 

“Back in Anchorage, when I didn’t have any antiseptics for my wounds, I would rub fresh wood ash on them to stop the bleeding and temporarily prevent infections.” I said aloud, hoping to make myself sound casual.

 

Ace and the kid both looked over to me, surprised _. Ah fuck, they’re going to say something_.

 

“Huh… really…” Ace muttered and looked back at the fire. He looked down at his hand and I knew he was contemplating giving it a try, although they should have a decent amount of antiseptic solutions in their shed _. Why did I even tell them that? God damn it…_

 

Before I knew it, the kid rushed over to sit down next to me, a look of amazement plastered on his face, “Woah, where did you learn that? Did you, like, live with some Native Americans?” He asked me a little too eagerly. W _ait, what the fu_ \- “Oooh dude! Were you, like, some survivalist like that Bear guy?! Did you make your cabin with your own hands?!” He anxiously gasped and I almost fucking slapped myself. “Jake… dude… you gotta tell me your secrets…”

 

I knew I shouldn’t have opened my mouth, much less mention anything about myself, and much-fucking-less around the kid. But I wanted to change things with Claudette, now didn’t I? Well then, indeed, fuck me.

 

“Ya know, no-one knows much about you, Park…” Ace started talking as he slowly crouched down and began unwrapping his bandage, “Why don’t ya share some more with the class, huh?”

 

So, this was it. The point of no goddamn return.

 

I couldn’t help but sigh, “There isn’t much to share. I lived in Anchorage for a few years and learned some things the hard way…” I gave a blank stare towards the kid, “Alone.”

 

Before Ace or the kid could yell out some hurried questions, Bill groaned. He tried sitting himself up but after two pathetic attempts, he settled on laying back down on the log, “And how the hell did you end up in Alaska, ‘cause I know you ain’t from there?”

 

“My father kicked me out and I couldn’t stand to be around people, so it seemed like the most convenient option at the time.” I casually answered. It should be simple enough for them to understand. Although I just knew the kid would need to pry further.

 

“But you like being around us now, right?” The kid eagerly asked me with a grin on his face.

 

I didn’t care to answer at that point, as not to risk the possibility of the kid and Ace discussing my sudden interest in conversing with them. Fuck no.

 

“Heh, I remember getting my old man pissed enough to kick me out a few times when I was a shit-ass kid.” Ace snickered as he finally undressed his hand. It was then that I finally saw the extent of the damage.

 

The motherfucker’s hand was fucking _mauled._

 

“Fuck!” Was all the kid and I could say.

 

I’m no stranger to blood and gore. Hell, being in this shithole has made me far more accustomed to it than I would expect to be normal. But to see it outside of the trials was almost surreal. At this point, I can no longer deny that whatever the hell was happening was getting bad. And the possibility of it getting worse was starting to scare me… _If Claudette were to get hurt again_ …

 

“Well Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Now how the ever living hell did that happen?” Bill groaned out as he finally managed to get up. He made his way to Ace and sat down next to him, lighting a cigarette in the process.

 

“The fuckin’ Hag. That’s how.” Ace muttered as he hissed in pain. He reached for some embers as he turned to face me. “Does it have to be hot or can I cool it a bit? ‘cause I ain’t looking forward to melting my fucking hand right now.”

 

“…it can be cooled but…” I couldn’t help but get distracted by the mutilated state his hand was in. His thumb and index fingers were barely held together by ligaments and his middle finger was all but gone. “…you should let Claudette take a look at it.” I told him as I looked onto his sunglass-covered eyes. I was honestly hoping he wasn’t serious about the ashes.

 

He exhaled and turned back to the fire, picking up a small pile of ashes and shaking his head, “If the girls see this… nah, best not to cause concern over nothin’.”

 

“It’s well past nothing. You’re going to get it infected.” Bill said with a disappoint head shake, “ _Then_ ya won’t only get them worried, you’ll get them damn well pissed.”

 

“Infected, huh? Well, Park said this shit will help with that.” And immediately he scattered the ashes on his hand. “FUCKING SHIT! JESUS FUCKING-”

 

“SHITSHITSHIT! DUDE! WHY THE FU- DUDE! ACE! SHIT!” The kid yelled out as Ace bit down on his other hand to keep himself from getting any louder, but his pained groans were just as unnerving.

 

Between Ace’s stifled groans and the kid’s emotional breakdown, I couldn’t help but wonder if our wounds were ever this painful before. Getting hooked was fucking hell, and the killers’ rare executions were something of their own league, but this- this seemed too… real.

 

“So much for keepin’ quiet…” Bill muttered as he shook his head and took a long drag of his cigarette. I could sense his sudden stare at me and, sub-consciously, I looked towards him. He wanted to tell me something, I was certain, but he simply sighed and shook his head once more.

 

By the time Ace and the kid had calmed down, Laurie and Feng had joined us at the campfire. They were too immersed into their conversation to notice Ace tucking in his hand deeper against his abdomen and wincing. The kid nearly lost it again as he frantically looked between Ace and me, but like hell if I was going to tell them anything. That was Ace’s deal. I simply shook my head to let him know that it was best not to say anything. His disheartened stare affirmed his understanding.

 

The young girl took a seat next to me and immediately handed over an old, black walkie-talkie. “We hope it won’t be a bother, but do you think you can try your hand at fixing this?” she timidly asked me as I looked at her. She gave me a small smile, “Please?”

 

_At least it’s not Dwight asking…_ “It’s going to be a bother.” I casually replied, “But I’ll see what I can do.”

 

I took the thing from her and her smile widened. She reminded me of the kid and for a second I prayed that she wouldn’t burst out telling me how amazing I was and how this was why we were best ‘buddies.’ Imagining her do so was pretty funny though, so before I could help it, I smiled.

 

Judging by the immediate rising of her eyebrows, I could tell she was thrown off by my gesture. I let my stare harden and nodded my head. I looked the walkie-talkie over and could tell it was at least a decade old by its large, rectangular size. It’s expandable whip antenna was another telling sign.

 

“You wouldn’t happen to have its pair?” I asked her.

 

“Oh, um. No. Sorry.” She replied as Feng sat down next to her.

 

“I believed that only one was necessary to receive transmission. Or am I wrong?” Feng commented. She crossed her arms and gave me a blank expression. Although I knew it was her natural posture, I couldn’t help but feel as if she was challenging me to tell her she was wrong.

 

“No, you’re right.” I simply told her. I was not fond of them being so confident in my ability to fix these things, but I wasn’t going to deny them their request. Not when Claudette would end up begging me to do it either way…

 

“Jake!”

 

The sound of her voice was like a sharp injection of adrenaline. My pulse flared and I could feel my breath hitch. Fuck, I felt nearly obsessed. For a moment, I wished I was more emotionally competent to recognize if what I felt for her was normal.

 

Almost too eagerly, I moved forward and looked past Feng and Laurie to find Claudette. She was jogging over to us with the yellow, hand radio and the soft sound of music accompanying her. She nearly ran into me, but she was able to crouch to the floor and grabbed onto my right thigh to keep herself from falling back.

 

“Look! It works!” she excitedly told me as she tried to catch her breath. She let go of my leg to turn a few knobs, but her phantom touch caused me to remain tense. And much to my annoyance, slightly aroused.

 

“Wait, is that playing music?” the kid asked before I could say a word.

 

“Yes! It started picking up a signal not too long ago, right?” she replied and looked towards Feng, whom simple nodded. “It’s only picking up this channel right now, though, but who knows, maybe we’ll be able to communicate with someone soon!”

 

Without a pause, everyone started talking about the probability of finding others or finally getting out of this place. They were becoming increasingly enthusiastic, but I could hardly share their hope. Was it too cruel of me to believe that the prospect of escaping was highly improbable or that their hopes of it were a waste of time? Things were slowly changing, but how long has it really been? Weeks? Months? Years?

 

“So, like, do you think we would be able to call for help on it!?” the kid asked enthusiastically. He gestured for Claudette to pass it to him and once she did he tried moving the knobs like her. The soft hum of a violin continued playing with barely an interference of static.

 

“Huh, seems to be stuck on that. Here, let me see it.” Bill said as the kid got up to sit next to him. “It looks like the ones we used during the infection…” he muttered as he inspected it cautiously, “but I know shit-all. Louis was the one that knew all about ‘em.”

 

“It’s one-way only.” I finally spoke up. “You can’t send any signal out.”

 

Just as quick as they had started talking, they fell silent. _Yeah, I just had to be the one to shit on their party, didn’t I?_

 

“So… we won’t be able to call for help?” Claudette asked me, her voice was laced with disillusion and I nearly winced.

 

“Not with that,” I immediately answered, hoping to quickly ease her worry, “but if I can get this one to work we might have a shot.” I told her as I lightly shook the walkie-talkie in my hand.

 

Her sudden, light-hearted smile was damn near contagious.

 

“W-w-whatever you need to fix it, j-just let me know.” Dwight finally said, washing away nearly any feeling of contentment and replacing it with a deep, rolling wave of annoyance. His voice was like a screeching chalkboard and I couldn’t help but fucking hate it.

 

I kept my mouth shut and nodded, there was nothing I could say that would go well with Claudette. If I was ever to need anything, he would be the absolutely last fucker I would ask.

 

“Thanks Jake, really.” Claudette softly told me as she gently squeezed my leg before she got herself up. I was sitting between Ace and the girl, so I couldn’t offer her a seat. Instead, she moved to sit next to Dwight and I couldn’t help but clench my jaw.

 

If it hadn’t been for my agreeing to stay for dinner, I would have left the fucking moment Claudette wiped off some food from Dwight’s chin. My appetite depleted further when Kate arrived and commented on how _‘cute’_ the two _‘lovebirds’_ were, and I nearly shot up when Claudette just laughed.

 

Everything faded to a blur as I tried to ease the deep, unsettling feeling that was stirring in the pit of my stomach. At some point I think Meg offhandedly insulted me and Tapp whined about my contributions to the group, but I couldn’t give a fuck. The only thing that stood to capture my attention was Claudette’s laugh… that was continuously directed to Dwight.

 

I couldn’t bring myself to get angered by Claudette for asking me to stay, though. Hell, I couldn’t even blame Dwight for simply existing. I was seething at _myself_.

 

_I_ was the one to agree to stay. I could have said no. I _should_ have said no. Hell, _I_ was the one to suggest that we begin whatever the fuck Claudette and I had going on.

 

But in the end, it was Dwight who had her attention.

 

I forced myself to give it a few minutes- for the sake of honoring Claudette’s wishes, but it finally became unbearable. Among their loud chatter, I stood up to leave.

 

“You’re leaving already?” the young girl quickly asked me. I turned to her and nodded and she gave me a smile as she extended her hand for my can. What little I ate of the food was completely ignored on my part, but she took a look at the nearly full container and frowned, “…you barely ate anything.”

 

I shrugged my shoulders, “Don’t have much of an appetite.”

 

King snickered, “You ‘n Feng both!” he said aloud. Feng shot him a dirty glance as Laurie peeked over to her can.

 

“And to think that I spent so much time gathering these in the forest.” Laurie lamented as she frowned at me once again, a hint of disappointment in her eyes.

 

“Wait, who didn’t eat their food?” Claudette quickly asked, looking over to us. King was sitting next to her and he pointed over to Feng.

 

“Feng ‘n Park are bein’ snobs about the food, Mama Claudette. Bloody snobs!” he exclaimed as he took Feng’s can and started eating from it, all the while shaking his head in disappointment.

 

“Jake, you’re leaving?” Claudette asked me and quickly got up, “Why don’t you stay a little while longer? I’m sure you’ll work up an appetite soon!” she told me with a half-hearted smile.

 

I sighed, not entirely sure what to tell her, but saying the first thing that popped into my mind, “It’s fine. Besides, I need to get to working on this thing.” I told her while I picked up the walkie-talkie and put it away in the inner pocket of my jacket.

 

“I’ll go by later!” she quickly blurted out, “-to help with fixing it!”

 

Luckily, it appeared that no one was paying much attention to what we were saying, so I nodded in agreement and finally left, feeling nothing more than the sensation of someone staring at me.

 

* * *

 

 

I didn’t touch the damn thing.

 

It must have been a few hours since I got back to my place. I left the walkie-talkie on the night stand and laid on my bed to clear my mind. I told myself I would get to working on it soon. The fact that I had somehow made myself even angrier than before by repeating every fucking interaction between Claudette and Dwight, showed that that was a lie. Why the fuck do I keep doing this to myself? Fucking shit, am I a masochist.

 

I couldn’t help but dissect every little touch, every smile or laugh or stare that Claudette gave Dwight. Even the tone of her voice was etched into my mind. She was so damn relaxed around him and it was undoing me.

 

“Fuck!” I finally said aloud, exhaling deeply. Then I heard a knock on the door. _God damn kid again_. I groaned to myself and reluctantly got up. I was feeling short fused and just knew I would lose it on him.

 

“What?!” I nearly yelled out as I roughly opened the door. I almost jumped when I saw Claudette.

 

She jumped back a bit with a scared look, “I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to-“

 

_Fuck nonononono…_ “Shit, no! I’m sorry I thought-“

 

She took a step back and frantically shook her hands, “I’m so sorry Jake, I didn’t mean to bug you! I could just leave and-“

 

“No!” I yelled out and grabbed one of her hands, I was borderline desperate to not have her leave. “I didn’t mean to yell. I’m sorry about that.”

 

“Oh… I was- yeah. Sorry for knocking so loud, I was, you know… yeah.” She meekly said as she looked down at our hands. “…I got a little too excited, so… yeah.” She muttered.

 

Upon realizing what she was trying to tell me, I cleared my throat and led her inside. I vividly remembered exactly where we left off earlier today and my blood rushed throughout my body. Damn, I hoped I didn’t get hard just yet.

 

“Oh! Are you done fixing it?” she excitedly asked me as she sat on the bed and grabbed the device.

 

_Shit._ “Not yet…” I replied as I sat down next to her. How much time did I waste sulking over her? Minutes? ...Hours? Did I really spend _hours_ thinking about that stuff…

 

“So is this what has you all worked up?” she slowly asked me with a concerned scowl.

 

“…Yes.”

 

Her expression relaxed and she giggled, “Jake, you’re so sweet to be this worried about it.” She put the thing back and turned to me. Her smile softened and we sat in silence for a few seconds, until she slowly reached to grab my hand, “I really appreciate all the help you’ve given us.”

 

I couldn’t help but move my hand to grab hers in my palm, my throat felt tightened, “I can’t say I really help much, but…” I looked at her.

 

Looking into her large, chocolate-colored eyes made me feel conflicted. For once in many years, I felt… warmth. Fuck, it was hard to explain, but I felt as if my body was radiating with a pleasant heat that was nearly all-consuming… it felt nice. No, it felt amazing.

 

Whatever it was, it made me want to tell her about my thoughts and my feelings and just- just to beg her to give me a chance. I knew that at first I would somehow be the most incompetent partner to grace her, but I would try. God, how fucking hard I would try to be better for her, to show her that despite my shitty attitude, I could love her properly. Just a chance to make her fall in love with me as I am with her.

 

But all the while, I feel fear. It’s a shallow yet resonating tension, an anxiety, almost. I’ve felt it too many times with my father, but this felt worse. His looks of disappointment and shame were piercing, more so than his words, but with her… I can’t help but imagine her eyes wincing with pity, with that look that screams _‘Oh Jake, I’m so sorry, but…’_ A fear of rejection, I suppose it is, and it was the most dominant of the two.

 

And so I shut my mouth and nodded. I was too much of a coward either way.

 

“You know, Dwight also appreciates everything, even though, uh, you know,” she nervously giggled, “He just wanted me to let you know that despite everything, you’re always welcomed at the camp.”

 

Why did she have to mention him? Fucking shit, why?!

 

I was almost immediately tensed, my jaw felt clamped shut. I knew my anger and annoyance towards him was irrational, but at the moment, I had no fucks to give for his sake. I let go of her hand and inhaled, “Look, Claudette…”

 

“I know, I know! Him and-and you don’t really get along, but, he said he’s not holding any grudges on what happened.” She hurriedly said, fidgeting with her hands and looking away. “And, you know, he wouldn’t mind- I just- I hope you can just- I mean, it would be nice to have you over more often.” She finally finished. I could tell she was nervous. Hell, I didn’t blame her, because I gave her good reason to be.

 

“No.” I told her. She winced and I instantly felt like an asshole, but the topic of Dwight was like an endless supply of energy to my Fuck-You attitude. “Look, Claudette, if you want me to go over for a while, that’s fine. I won’t deny that, but…” I exhaled and looked at her, she wasn’t looking at me and somehow that made it easier for me to tell her, “…Don’t mention him. At least, not when we’re alone… Please.” As if that ‘please’ would do shit for her. _Jake, you fucking idiot, you crack me up._

 

She finally turned to look at me. Her look of disappointment was just like my father’s. “I don’t know why- He’s not a bad guy, Jake. If you just gave him a chance I’m sure-“

 

I nearly laughed out loud. Of all things she could be asking me to give a chance, it just had to be about fucking Dwight. Not about her- about _us._ But about the man who I now despised at a deeper level. Fuck. That.

 

“Why?!” I nearly raised my voice. My constraint was really stretching fucking thin. “Why do you want-” I exhaled once again, not really sure what to tell her. Why did she want me to be his fucking friend? It was almost as if he was making her tell me this shit to gloat about them. To throw it in my face that despite everything, she would stand by his side, not mine. She wanted _me_ to see just how good of man _he_ is. She was fucking vouching for him like a lobbyist. I was just her fuck-buddy, but he was her best friend- her fucking hero that was able to lead them to some fucking delusional victory against the Entity.

 

I knew it was obvious to her that I was pissed. She stayed still, without a word. I was anxiously moving my leg, hands clenched and looking at her. I was angry, furious even, but above it all, I was hurt. Perhaps only an emotionally-stunted idiot like me could get so worked-up by having his fucking feelings hurt.

 

But I didn’t want things to be this way, not with her.

 

I inhaled once more, trying to calm myself enough to apologize. She didn’t deserve to be treated like this- I seriously asked her not mention someone she loved around me.

 

I tried formulating a half-decent apology, but my mind was buzzed with nothingness. I guess my irrational emotions got the better of me and caused some fucking cognitive malfunction.

 

“I’m sorry.” Her soft voice snapped me out of my mental haze. “I… I didn’t mean to get you angry. I won’t talk about it anymore… Sorry.”

 

She was looking at me once again, but she looked far more disappointed in herself than me. I felt the nasty punch of guilt hit me breathless. She was apologizing. Not me, but her.

 

I opened my mouth to correct her, to tell her how wrong she is for apologizing for my own, stupid reaction. But I only managed to breath out her name before she kissed me.

 

To say it was unexpected would be a gravely made understatement. Unimagined? Perhaps. But unexpected? Expectations of such caliber were not even existent in my mind.

 

I was frozen. Her soft, warm lips pushed against my own, and I failed to think, again. My eyes were wide open and I couldn’t bring myself to close them. It felt surreal, but from the way my pants began to feel a bit too restraining, it was far too good to be my imagination.

 

She had her eyes gently closed, but she parted her lips just enough to warm mine with her breath. I shut my eyes and moaned. I was lost.

 

My hands reached for the back of her head as she slowly moved her lips, causing me to do the same. I dug my fingers into her soft hair, trying not to grasp to roughly, but holding her tight enough to pull her towards me- to make her push her fucking sweet lips against mine. Between the growing wetness of our lips I tasted her: peppermint and cherries.

 

She moaned the moment our tongues met. What we were doing, I had absolutely no fucking idea, but it felt so right. Her tongue was against my lips, timidly stroking them before she gave my bottom one a gentle suck. I moaned louder this time, allowing one of my hands to venture away from her hair to her neck, then further down to her breast. At that moment, her blouse was a greater annoyance than what was said mere minutes ago. I needed to feel her, touch her, taste her. I needed her in so many ways than just one.

 

We forced ourselves apart to catch our breath as well as to undress, but I can’t keep myself from her. I kiss her once more as she starts unbuttoning her blouse while I start taking off my jacket. Everything is feeling restraining, so annoyingly useless for me now, but my patience is not wary, I won’t allow it to stop me from savoring her. So I kiss her on her neck, trailing my lips down to her chest where she starts undoing her bra. I kiss the curves of her breast, lick them even, until I feel her bra go lax and impatiently pull it down. I hastily suck on her left nipple and she nearly pulls at my hair, moaning out my name.

 

Between our moans we finally undress, but I don’t allow her a chance to take the clothes off the bed. I kiss her again, like a madman- a starving madman at that. Warm and wet. Fuck, everything is becoming so warm and wet. Her lips- as I slowly glide my tongue against hers. Her womanhood- as I shakenly stroke across it, allowing my index finger to enter her as she starts buckling beneath me. My own manhood- as my pre-cum drips out in anticipation of what’s to come.

 

She gives me a gentle peck on my lips. She grabs the sides of my head and moves me to look at her, and I give no resistance. I don’t stop stroking her, though, since each stroke across her clit causes her breath to hitch. She looks straight into my eyes as she strokes my right cheek with her thumb.

 

She frowns and her eyes glimmer with unshed tears, “I didn’t mean to get you so upset-“

 

But I don’t let her finish, I kiss her and shake my head, breathing out broken apologies.

 

 

_“Please don’t say that…”_

_“…I’m sorry.”_

_“I didn’t mean to get angry.”_

_“…Please don’t tell me sorry.”_

 

 

I couldn’t help but loathe myself. I made her upset at herself, when she should be upset with _me_. I stop for a moment to catch my breath. My forehead rests against hers as she keeps her eyes closed- gently caressing my chest.

 

I want to tell her I love her.

 

But instead I thrust into her, consuming her moans as I kiss her once again. I can’t bring myself to say it, but I can try to show her, even if it’s in vain.

 

My thrusts are slow and deep- my mediocre attempt to demonstrate just how good she makes me feel: so fucking good, and tender, and _meaningful_.

 

And when she pleads for me to go faster, I don’t hesitate. I suck on her nipples as I thrust vigorously into her- my pathetic way of showing how intense my emotions can get when they involve her. They’re all consuming, and rabid, and such a fucking mess but they still make me fill so fucking good, because they’re for her, and nothing of her can ever be bad. Not a single thing.

 

And when she tightens around me, almost crying out my name with her soft, drawn moans, I come undone. I kiss her, neither too softly nor too rough, but enough to hope that she can understand that she controls me. She can make me as sane or as crazed as she wants, and I won’t fight her, because I simply can’t.

 

And I keep thrusting into her, my hormones still raging high, and my emotions far too wild to control. And holy fucking shit, for a moment I understand the madness, the selfishness, the entire insanity of wanting to keep her to myself. Because I realize, that if this was the real world- if I had the minuscule chance of actually being with her, I would wish for a child. A fucking anchor to keep her close to me. And it sickens me, but I can’t stop. Not until my arms start to buckle under my weight, not until I almost fill her entirely with my cum. I’m such a piece of shit, but I can’t help it.

 

I try not to crush her as I lay myself atop of her, my head resting against her shoulder. My mind is blank, whitened with a thickened sheet of haze that takes far too long to clear. And even when it does, I can’t decide if this was the best sex we have had yet, or the worse. Because the thought of her having my child is still floating around my mind. Well now, wouldn’t that be the biggest ‘Fuck you’ to Dwight?

 

She giggles, though, and I push myself slightly up to see her face, “What?” I breathlessly ask her, smiling as I see her grinning with her eyes closed.

 

“You were making it a bit hard to breathe- but I’m fine.” She replies, finally opening her eyes.

 

It takes me a second to register what she says, but once it does, I scramble to get myself up, “Shit! I’m sorry- are you okay?”

 

She just laughs as she props herself up on her elbows and gives me a quick kiss, “It’s fine. All my groaning made me lose most of my breath.” She smiles once more, “It was, um, really good.”

 

“Oh… You’re welcome?”

 

“Well, okay, Mr. Ladies Man.” She laughs, laying back down and pulling me with her. I fix myself as to not fall off the bed, and soon after she throws herself in an embrace, hugging me tightly as she snuggles between my arm and chest. It all feels so right, and I can’t help but smile.

 

We lay in silence for a moment while she draws lazy circles across my chest and I gently stroke her waist. But I can feel her staring at me, so I look towards her and catch her smile. I raise my eyebrows as if to mutely ask her ‘ _What_?’

 

“You look real handsome when you smile.” She tells me, too low to be heard across the room, but too loud to be a whisper.

 

I have always been told that I don’t blush, and I have always been content with that observation. But the mild warmth across my cheeks told me I was doing just that. And her giggling affirmed it.

 

“It’s true!” she said, this time looking away with a shy smile.

 

“Likewise- I mean, not handsome, but- Beautiful.” I clumsily stutter out, mentally slapping myself at my own lack of socialization. I clear my throat, “You look beautiful. But… always.”

 

We don’t move for a while aside from some small movements. I started feeling my eyes grow heavy, but I wasn’t going to miss out on being with her. It wasn’t until she moved to sit up that my eyes opened wide, “Are you okay?” I hastily ask her.

 

“Oh, no, yeah. I’m just gonna get ready to, you know, head back.” She told me as she moved over me, but I stop her mid-way so that she would be straddling my waist. She immediately moved to cover her chest, as if somehow I didn’t already memorize every detail of her breasts. “Jake…” she nervously giggles, as she bites her lips and looks away.

 

I can’t help but caress her waist as I become so mesmerized by the softness of her skin. Her ebony skin feels like satin, and her curves make it all the more inviting. I move my right hand across her navel, gliding my palm across every inch of her abdomen, until I reach the bottom curves of her breasts. Her smile fades and is soon replaced by parted lips that release shaky moans. She finally lowers her arms and I move my hand to cup her left breast.

 

“Can’t you stay?” I quietly ask her. I don’t stop stroking her breast, squeezing it and gently pinching her nipple between my fingers. She lets out small moans but quickly tightens her lips and shakes her head.

 

“I-I can’t. Not- not right- mmm…” she moans once more. My dick is hard once again, ready to take her… just a little further back and she would reach me.

 

Fuck, to have her ride me…

 

“Jake, I have to go back.” She tells me sternly, her eyes closed as if she had to use the entirety of her willpower to speak.

 

If I was any more of a degenerate, I would have moved her back and convinced her to stay the entire night. I somehow knew she wouldn’t be able to deny it- especially when I was this ready, this fast… _I just need to feel her once more_ …

 

But I have built an excellent restraint against myself throughout the years and reluctantly let her go. She gets up with haste and scrambles to find her clothes. I can’t help but smirk because the look on her face makes it obvious that she’s on the verge of jumping on me. She wants to stay… but she won’t. She’s probably arguing with herself on why she can’t. But fuck, she wants to and doesn’t that mean _something_? Maybe now is the golden opportunity to ask her to give me a chance?... but how the fuck do I start?

 

Like an idiot, I stay quiet while she finishes changing. My mind is racing with dozens of scattered phrases and sentences that I can’t seem to combine correctly. The words ‘ _couple’_ and ‘ _try’_ and ‘ _love’_ buzz in non-sequential order, but by the time I finally form a half-decent question she is out the door.

 

I pathetically sigh. The fear of rejection creeps back into my mind and I allow it to console me. _She would have probably said no either way,_ I repeat to myself.

 

I drape my right arm over my eyes. My body is finally feeling sore, my hard-on has completely disappeared, and I can still taste peppermint and cherries; I have every reason to finally let myself fall asleep, so I do.

 

The black haze of sleep slowly overtakes me, but not before my mind throws faded images of Claudette. Her smile and her laughter are finally directed at me, and among the lovely sound of her voice, I could have sworn I heard the soft screeching of static- the distinctly familiar sound of an incoming radio transmission. But before I could fight to regain consciousness, the darkness consumed me once again.

 

* * *

 

 

I could feel the sharp, cold air of the freezer before anything else. _The Gideon Meat Plant_ … Once I can finally open my eyes I’m not surprised to be surrounded by the frozen pig carcasses hanging off the ceiling. The thick, sickly sweet scent of the carcasses finally hits me and I can’t help but sneer in disgust. _It just had to be the fucking Pig_ , I groan to myself as all my senses finally come to.

 

From all the killers, The Pig Girl remains my second most hated one.  Aside from the fucking Hillbilly, the deranged girl never fails to leave me in a sour mood. Her reverse bear traps make for a hard trial most of the time with their fucking timers, and their kill-switches- _fuck_ , I can still remember my first attempt at leaving with it still on… And her constant ambushes frustrate me to no end that even running against The Wraith can feel like some shitty holiday away from her.

 

In some fucked up, pessimistic way, I have come to accept my death by the hands of most of the killers, but this shit-crazy bitch…

 

“ _You gotta be fucking kiddin’ me…_ ” I suddenly hear from outside of the doorway and snap out of my angry- and admittedly, panicking, state of mind. After a few seconds of debating if whether it was best to keep my distance from the others in this trial, I make my way out of the room. My paranoia gets the best of me as I instinctively crouch and check every corner and pathway within my field of view. Finally, my attention is caught by the person standing straight ahead of me- Ace.

 

His back is facing me, but I can hear him muttering to himself. Deciding not to risk making too much noise by catching him off-guard, I approach him with heavy, conspicuous steps. Immediately, he turns around and upon noticing me, smiles. Despite having his grimy hat and opaque sunglasses cover most of his face, I could tell that he is in a poor state. Even at this distance, I can notice the deep creases around his eyes and the pale tone of his skin.

 

“Ah, Park! Good to see ya kid.” He tells me as I walk over to him. I instantly notice that he’s cradling his right hand that is still covered by the old, dirty rags from before. However, the carmine color is now replaced by a dark-brown stain, which tells me that his wound had stopped bleeding a while ago. Although I was somewhat relieved, I could not help but feel unsettled upon the realization that the Entity had called him for a trial while injured. Only once had it happened to King, but we had assumed it was out of spite from the Entity since he had boasted about his ten-trial winning streak.

 

“Shit hand is still shit, I know.” He tells me as he turns to his left- in what I assumed was an attempt to break my stare. We start making our way through the plant in silence, turning every corner with hope of quickly finding a generator. However, with the state of his hand, I was doubting that he would be of much help.

 

After a few moments of feeling like we were running in circles, we were finally able to find a generator at the corner of a room. In a matter of seconds, Ace went straight to repairing it, but without the use of his right hand he failed almost instantaneously.

 

The explosion of the generator barely caused him to flinch as he stood up with a deep scowl on his face, “I’m afraid I ain’t gonna be of much use. Can’t do shit without both’a my hands.” He tells me with a bitter chuckle and shake of his head.

 

Before I could open my mouth to tell him that we should find another generator in case the Pig Girl decides to check the noise out, Meg appears almost out of nowhere. I manage not to move a muscle, but fucking shit did she scare me. Ace on the other hand, looked as if he almost shit his pants.

 

“God damn it, girl, you tryin’a kill me?” he harshly whispered.

 

She looks at him with a slightly bothered frown and mutters a ‘ _Sorry_ ’ as she pushes past him to start on the generator.

 

“I swear, I’m gonna get a heart attack one’a these days- Woah, what do ya think you’re doin’? We can’t stick around. _Vamonos_!” he tells her as he starts walking away.

 

“Don’t worry, she’s not coming. She saw Tapp and they took off upstairs.” Meg tells us as she starts messing with the wires, “I heard some pallets fall so we should be safe for a while.”

 

Ace and I look at each other in quiet understanding. If Tapp was here, then Meg was right. I was not familiar with their history, but from what I had been able to gather from the rest of the group, Tapp and her had some scores to settle. Whatever they were, the bitch had it out for him, so as long as he kept her chasing him she wouldn’t be a problem.

 

I decide to join Meg, but as I start separating the damaged wires, I look over to Ace. I then realize that there is only enough space for two of us to work on the generator, and from the looks of it, he wasn’t going to be able to fix any on his own.

 

He clears his throat and bobs his head, “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be checking on Tapp. He pulled me a solid in our last run and I think I’ll return the favor now.”

 

I nod my head at him in acknowledgment and return to the task at hand. However, Meg remains silent as she continues her work with indifference.

 

Although I would admit that Meg is one of the few survivors I hold some regard for, I am not fond of keeping tabs on her. She is relatively young, annoyingly loud, and most of all, bratty, but she knows how to handle herself enough to escape most trials unharmed. The only times I give her an iota of attention is when Claudette asks me for a favor involving her, or when I am stuck repairing a generator with her. Either way, she always starts her one-sided conversations with insincere pleasantries that eventually evolve into ingenuous name calling. ‘ _Piss-pants_ ,’ ‘ _frog licker_ ,’ and ‘ _sour cat-napper_ ’ are few examples of her brilliance.

 

  _‘I need him to do something to prove he isn’t some soulless drone’_ is her reasoning most of the time. I will never admit, however, that I usually find her entertaining, nor would I ever tell her that she is almost like the annoying sister I never cared to have. So to have her be so quiet made it apparent that there was something bothering her.

 

I assumed that Ace took note of her lack of response as he stood in place and shook his head, “I know we ain’t no Nea, but it ain’t no reason to give us the cold shoulder. Ya breakin’ my heart here, kid!” He tells her with a thick, Italian accent and a smirk.

 

She quickly turns to glare at him, “Shut up, Ace.”

 

Ace lets out a hearty laugh and finally turns to leave, waving his good hand at us as he turns a corner, “You kids keep yourselves outta trouble.” He yells out as he disappears from our sight.

 

I am no stranger to silence. Quite obviously, I enjoy it above most sounds, and when it comes to most of the survivors, I work hard to ensure it remains as such. But at this moment there was something rather unpleasant about the lack of taunts and half-witted remarks coming from Meg. I felt conflicted, then, to ask her if she was fine…

 

Nonetheless, we finish the generator in awkward silence, and I don’t lose time in finding another. I decide not to look back to check if she is following me, but instead concentrate on finding the large, metal doors that correspond to the generators. In the back of my mind, however, I continue debating if I should tell her anything at all…

 

I eventually find myself at the entrance of the basement and immediately make my way to the decrepit restroom that is always situated to the side. If there is only one thing that doesn’t annoy me about running against the Pig Girl, it’s the predictable placement of a generator in that room… although having to be around the fucking decomposing bodies nearly nullifies it.

 

I can hear Meg’s footsteps follow me into the room, so I make my way to the front-end of the generator. We start working on the generator in silence, but once we get nearly half of the pistons working, I stop and look at her with a blank expression.

 

“So what am I today?” I ask her in a flat voice.

 

Seeing her turn to me with a surprised look makes me ease up a bit. “W-what… what?” she asks me, clearly confused.

 

“You’re quiet, so I assumed you were actually thinking about a good name for me this time.” I tell her casually, trying to keep my voice as monotone as usual.

 

She stops working on the generator as her expression remains unchanged, “I don’t-”

 

I sigh in disappointment and go back to tightening the loose ends of the wires, “What is it that Tapp always tells you...” I say aloud as if I was asking myself, “Are you losing your touch, Thomas?”

 

Her expression quickly changes as she scrunches her brows together, “…No, I’m not, you big… dummy.” She sighs as she turns back to the generator. “I’m just not feeling up to it…” she tells me in an almost defeated voice.

 

She remains still, but I notice her chewing her lips. I knew then that she was anxious, and the fact that her only response to Ace was when he mentioned us not being Nea, I could only guess that something happened between them two... _Socializing attempt number two, then?_

 

“So…” I start once again, but this time I allow my voice to show a hint of concern, “is Nea fine or-”

 

“She’s great… she’s…ugh!” she groans out and turns to me again, but this time she looks worried, “Can’t you guys just stop talking about it? It isn’t like we’re dating, okay?!”

 

_Alright. Well, then…_

Having no idea how to respond, I awkwardly nod my head and go back to whatever I was doing, or at least try to.

 

“Wait… you don’t-” Meg starts as I turn back to her, “You don’t even know what I’m talking about… do you?”

 

I slowly shake my head, “No.”

 

“Oh…” is all she replies.

 

She turns back to the generator, but, again, does nothing but chew her lips. Now what the fuck do I tell her? How can I possibly phrase a question out of this without sounding awkward as fuck?

 

I finally hear her start working on the circuit panel, when she slowly inhales, “She’s great, you know?” she quietly tells me as the generator shakes and whirls to near completion, we’re almost done, but I slow myself down to allow her a moment to speak.

 

“She’s kind, and sweet, and considerate…” Meg continues as she come to a full stop on her work, “…and she’s the only one that can actually keep up with me on my runs around the woods. And she’s so creative when she sews me clothes that she reminds me of my mom.” She chuckles a bit and shakes her head once more, “And it’s so frustrating that I keep avoiding her at camp, but…”

 

She stays quiet for a moment and I decide to turn to see her. She’s looking straight ahead at the generator as it finally powers on and the metal doors loudly creak to life. I get myself up and pat my hands against my pants to clean off some of the motor grease on them, but I don’t take my eyes off of her.

 

She finally stands up and looks at me with a saddened frown, “I can’t help but get mad at myself, you know?”

 

“Why?” I cautiously ask her, unsure if I want to actually continue this discussion.

 

“Because out of everyone, she just had to choose me… and it isn’t fair...” She tells me, looking as if she wants to tell me more, but before anything else can be said we hear the distant echo of a scream and the drop of a pallet.

 

Recognizing the scream to be that of Tapp, I don’t hesitate a moment to keep moving. Although we already had two generators done, losing Tapp this early on was going to cost us the trial since Ace was practically useless and without a key, only one of us would be able to escape through the hatch.

 

Following the same path back to the first generator, we were able to find a staircase to the upper floor, but as soon as we reach the top, another scream resonates throughout the factory. Tapp was down. _Fuck, now what?_

 

I look to Meg, who is looking more attentive to the situation by now, and calculate the best option at this point, “Go find the hatch. I’ll go get Tapp.”

 

“But Ace went after him, can’t we go find another gen to work on?” she tells me slightly confused.

 

I shake my head and start making my way to the center of the plant, “It’s pointless right now. Find the hatch and get out as soon as you can.” I tell her without giving her a chance to argue with me. If I was going to play a fucking martyr, I wanted to do so without having to explain myself.

 

As soon as I get past the floor opening of the center corridor, my heart-rate spikes up. I nearly throw myself against the surrounding crates as blood rushes to my ears and my pulse flares uncontrollably.

 

I can’t see anything but I can hear the loud groans of Tapp, which I can only assume are due to him attempting to get loose from the bitch’s hold. But the sudden thud and pained groan from him tell me that he won’t make it. I hear the sound of the bear trap and the beeping that follows and just know: _we’re done_. I guess going the last three trials without having to feel the fucking Entity’s claws tear me apart in slow, agonizing precision wasn’t too bad. Hell, at least the injuries from dying won’t last as long as when we survive… yet.

 

I don’t move for a few more moments as I hear Tapp yell out once more with the creaking sound of the hook. I am able to keep myself still despite the wretched sounds, but the thought of getting stabbed by the fucking hook once more cause me to winch from the phantom pain on my shoulder. _Meg better have found the hatch…_ I think to myself. I didn’t take things being done in vain too serious- especially when it came to Claudette, but allowing myself to get killed by none other than the fucking Pig Girl was an exception.

 

My heartbeat finally starts to calm down and I take it as my cue to finally look. It seems clear to go, but as soon as I step foot around my cover, I feel a hand push down on my shoulder. I take a sharp turn behind me and nearly take off running, but Ace immediately grabs me on my other shoulder. His jaw tightens as he quickly clutches his right hand, holding back a pained groan.

 

“ _Hijo de mi reputa madre_ …” he tensely whispers. It takes a moment for him to finally look at me and for the first time since I have met him, he looks genuinely defeated. He tries to mask it with a bitter chuckle, “I got dealt a real shitty-ass hand this time, didn’t I?”

 

I remain silent as he reaches for his back pocket and takes out a key- a skeleton key, to be exact, with a single, milky glass shard hanging off of it.

 

“Happy New Year’s, Park.” He grins at me, “Now get the fuck outta here.” He tells me as he thrust the key at me. I grab it and look at him with mild uncertainty, but he knew I wasn’t going to question or argue against him. So he straightened his back, adjusted his glasses, and tipped his cap at me. I turned to look back at Tapp, who slowly swayed on the hook, and nodded my head to no-one in particular. _So be it._

 

I don’t look back at them as I make my way to the staircase Meg and I came from. I was walking at a brisk pace, but as soon as I heard Ace yell out in pain, I ran. The Pig Girl must have been waiting in a corner for someone to grab Tapp like the fucking sly bitch she was.

 

After a few, tense minutes of hearing Ace’s screams echo and not finding the hatch, I end up right where we had started. I take a quick look around, trying to see past the light fog that covers the distant corridors and hallways, before I decide to go back into the freezer.

 

I nearly laughed aloud when I saw the unopened hatch right in the middle of the room. _Now to find Me-_

“Jake!” Meg calls out to me from the furthest right corner, “I found the hatch,” she starts to say as she steps in front of me, holding her arms against her chest, “but I couldn’t find a key, and I was hoping you guys wouldn’t-“

 

“I have one.” I interrupt her as I open my right hand and show her the key on my palm, “Let’s go.” I tell her as I crouch down to unlock the hatch.

 

“Wait, but what about Ace and Tapp? We can’t leave-“

 

“Ace gave me the key. Let’s go.” I tell her again, trying not to sound too cold. The door of the hatch swings open and its familiar hum eases my nerves a bit.

 

I look up at Meg and see her slightly open her mouth to say something, but she decides to tighten it shut and shakes her head before jumping down the dark abyss of the hatch. I look back once more and don’t hear anything but the hum of the hatch, so I let myself sigh with minor defeat and follow Meg.

 

Upon roughly landing on my feet, I look around to find Meg, but struggle to see much in the ominously dark… room?... Hallway? Wherever the hell it was that the hatch led us to.  It wasn’t necessarily pitch black, but the normal physics of light were nearly absent in here. I guess the only way I would ever be able to describe it would be in terms of metaphysics… we were only able to see and feel what the Entity allowed, as if the feeling of landing on the ground was questionable itself. Regardless, I couldn’t see shit, but since we always made it out to the campfire in the end, I walked in whatever direction I could.

 

“Jake? Are you in here?” I hear Meg ask, but still can’t see anything even as I feel a slim arm wrap around my left upper arm. Knowing that it was Meg, I didn’t react to the sudden movement.

 

“I’m here.” I tell her and immediately hear a sigh of relief. I still can’t see her but I feel her hold tighten and feel her pull on me to continue walking.

 

She nervously chuckles, “Oh my God, I frickin’ hate this place. It’s so dang spooky all the time…”

 

“I suppose.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, don’t try to act all macho on me, Pansy-Ass Punk.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Really what?”

 

“That’s my name for today? ‘ _Pansy-Ass Punk’_?”

 

“Yeah it is, so what?”

 

I sigh, “I guess you really are losing your touch…”

 

“Oh my God, Jake! Shut up!... I’m not, okay?... I’m just not on my A-game… you Tapp-ass…”

 

I actually chuckle, and she gasps.

 

“Holy guacamole… did you just laugh?”

 

“Not really-“

 

“I am so telling Claudette!... You actually laughed! Ha!... wait, am I the first person to actually witness your first display of emotion?!”

 

“…Considering you can’t see anything, no, you’re not.”

 

“You know what I meant!”

 

“…Still, no.”

 

“Pfft, whatever. I know I am. Or else it would have been the talk of the town!”

 

“If that’s the case… it’s a crappy town.”

 

“It’s only crappy when you’re in it… ha-ha!”

 

Meg laughs for a moment as we wander in the darkness aimlessly. Even with time feeling off in the entire realm, it always felt even more so in here. As such, it feels like a couple of minutes pass while we remain walking in silence. It felt weird, really, having Meg’s tiny arm wrapped around my own since it felt like I was walking with a child.

 

“Your arm is… very slim.”

 

She remains quiet for a few seconds until she bursts out laughing again, “What?!”

 

“It feels like a kids’.”

 

“God damn it, Jake, you’re such a weirdo!”

 

“It’s just an-“

 

“You don’t go telling women their arms are small! That’s so… weird!”

 

“But they are.”

 

“Yeah, and it’s a super weird compliment.”

 

“…But it’s not a compliment-”

 

“Shut up. Just. Shush… don’t make yourself anymore of a loser than you already are.”

 

And so I remain silent… smirking. As I said before, she entertains me.

 

“…Hey Jake?”

 

“What?”

 

“You know earlier… when I was talking about Nea…”

 

_Shit_. Another awkward conversation about emotions and relationships… “What about it?”

 

“…What would you do? I mean, like, what would you tell her?”

 

She just had to ask _me_ for advice. Of all people in this fucking place, it had to be me.

 

“…I don’t know… I’m not entirely familiar with the situation, so I can’t say anything of value.”

 

“Okay, fair… Okay, so I guess I should explain it then… dang it…”

 

“She likes you.”

 

“Yeah, she does. A lot, apparently.”

 

“But you don’t feel the same.”

 

“Nope.”

 

“So what is the problem?”

 

“…Um, hello! Our feelings are way different, dude!”

 

“I know, so just tell her that-“

 

“I can’t.”

 

“Why can’t-“

 

“Because… I don’t want to hurt her feelings…”

 

I can’t help but sigh. The situation was straightforward… what the hell was I supposed to add to it? I couldn’t even properly handle my own situation with Claudette, and yet this is being thrown at me?

 

“Look, Meg. I don’t think I’m the right person to be talking to about this.”

 

Her grip slightly loosens and she quietly sighs… “I just… I don’t think I can really talk to anyone else about this, you know?”

 

“…Not really…”

 

“…She kissed me a day or so ago and stupid Ace saw and he went running his mouth, and then apparently _everyone_ had BET about the whole thing happening! And now Claudette is all love-dovey about it, and Dwight keeps trying to make sure I feel ‘comfortable’ and ‘accepted’ like, _‘Dude! What the heck are you talking about!’_ and Kate made a dumb bracelet with flowers for us and, just… Agh! I’m just so confused and frustrated about it all!”

 

“…Hmm.”

 

“And the worst part is that I’ve been avoiding Nea this whole time, and I know she really wants to talk with me, but… I can’t bring myself to tell her ‘no’…”

 

“…Well…”

 

She sighs again, “It’s just that, she’s been a really great friend, like, second best to Claudette. And I honestly didn’t think she would think of me this way… but, God, Jake… I just can’t tell her no, not when she’s been so nice and patient and, just, really great, you know?”

 

“But you don’t want to tell her ‘yes’?”

 

“…No, I don’t… but what if you were in her shoes? What can I say to make it hurt _less_?”

 

No. No. Nope, I’m not capable of answering this. Fuck… what the hell kind of response can I even give?

 

“Be honest. Like 113% honest.”

 

_Honestly_?... It was in that instance that I thought of Claudette.

 

“…Look, Meg… you shouldn’t be asking me these kinds of questions…”

 

“I know, I know, but-“

 

“But if I’m being honest…”

 

“…Yeah?”

 

I sigh, again… If I was honest… I would do whatever it took to get Claudette to give me a chance… even if it meant that she would be with me simply out of pity. At least I would have her, right?

 

“…Besides not sharing her… sentimentality, what else is holding you back from giving her a chance?”

 

“…What… what do you mean?”

 

“Well, are you interested in someone else or- “

 

“No! I’m not… No.”

 

“Then, why not just give her a chance?”

 

“…But, how can I if- I’m just not- I’m not into, you know, girls.”

 

“It’s not necessary to take the situation to that kind of level yet.”

 

“But what if I can’t take things to _that_ level, like, ever?”

 

“Stop. Forget about reaching that level right now.” I breathe in mild frustration, “Look, if I were her, then I would want a chance to at least try to make you understand how I felt… and… to show you what I’m willing to do to earn your affection.”

 

“…But… I thought people always say that you can’t help who you love.”

 

For a moment, I remembered my own parents. As faded as my memory was becoming, there was one thing I could partially remember about them- they were an arraigned marriage. The details were lost in my scattered memories of them and my brother and the dozen or so servants I was raised with, but I remembered incomplete moments of untiring tolerance and occasional affection for one another… they appeared content, sometimes even happy, so… what was it that I had heard my grandmother say once to me?

 

“Who said anything about love?”

 

“…Oh… but…”

 

“Meg, at this point… fuck it.”

 

“Oh… wait, what do you mean?”

 

“We’ve been stuck in this place for a long time, and there’s no certainty that we’ll ever get out. So, fuck it. You don’t have anything to lose in giving her a chance, do you?”

 

“I guess not…”

 

“So then give her a chance, and, who knows, you might grow fond of her… or something.”

 

“…Okay… I guess I can try…”

 

It felt as if a weight of a thousand tons was added to me in that instant. Why? I don’t know. Perhaps it was because of the fact that I didn’t even know how to approach Claudette with my own feelings and yet I was giving Meg advice that was- most certainly, probably, and/or most likely, not the best in terms of emotional maturity. But, fuck it. I was given a test that I didn’t even know about and answered to the worst of my abilities, what could possibly go wrong? Many things, perhaps even a dozen. Or maybe none. Hell, Meg could end up falling in love with Nea for all I know- I’m not a fucking cupid.

 

Then, in the distance, I see the orange glow of the camp.

 

“Look! Finally!” Meg yells out and nearly takes off running, but she keeps her grip on me so I’m nearly dragged alongside her. For such a small woman, she was relatively strong.

 

We eventually end up running a few yards towards the camp until we realize that we had already exited the hatch’s domain. It was as disconcerting as always. You never knew you left the place, and once you did, no sign was left of its existence.

 

Meg kept her tight grip on my arm. Once we slowed down I assumed she noticed it and slowly let go. Like before, I could tell that she wanted to tell me something, so I remained quiet.

 

“Thanks, Jake.” She tells me as she faces up to look me intently in the eyes, “I know I annoy you, and you probably want to kick me in the ass, but…” she looks down to my chest this time. Damn, I forgot how short she was, maybe a few inches shorter than Claudette since the top of her head barely reached the top of my chest. _Like a child, I swear_ …

 

She then, tentatively, wraps her small arms around my waist. I instinctively raise my hands as to not touch her, but she tightens her hug and snuggles her face against my chest.

 

“Gah, your jacket’s so soft…” I hear her mumble against me.

 

I slowly lower my arms and wrap them around her. It felt incredibly awkward at first since I only ever got embraced by her once, but remembering the circumstances surrounding that instance… and the fact that she was sobbing back then… I supposed this time was better.

 

We stayed this way for a few seconds, or at least it felt that short, until the kid’s near-screeching voice filled the air and pierced my ears, “WHAT?! WHAT?!”

 

Meg quickly let me go, “AH! What?!”

 

“WHERE’S MY HUG, BRO?!” he yells out from a few feet away with his arms wide open, a shocked look on his face, and his line of direction aiming straight for me.

 

“Eh, it’s just you.” Meg exasperates and waves her hand, “You can have him, I’m done!” she yells out to him as she starts walking away, towards the camp.

 

“GIVE ME SOME LOVE MY MAN!” The kid yells out as he reaches a foot or two of distance from me, but before he could practically throw himself at me, I hastily move to the left with my right hand sticking out.

 

“No.” I tell him as I push against his chest and try to walk away.

 

“But you were hugging her!” he quickly argues as he stands in place with a hurt scowl. God damn it, how many kids do I have to be around?

 

I continue walking towards the general direction of my camp, but I glance to my right to see Meg walking away to theirs. She looks to me and smiles before she takes off running. I had a feeling things between us were going to change, but honestly, I wasn’t necessarily bothered about it… Didn’t I want to get closer to Claudette? Well, what better way than gaining the trust of her friends… _except_ _fucking_ _Dwight_ , I scowl.

 

“I don’t think you even realize how much you hurt me!” The kid pouts as he picks up his pace to walk alongside me.

 

“I don’t think you realize how much I don’t care.” I tell him with a voice of indifference, but he just smiles.

 

He then laughs, “Man, you’re funny. See, that’s why I like you!”

 

I shake my head but my expression remains stoic, “You have a shitty sense of humor then.”

 

He laughs even louder and pats my shoulder, “Dude, you’re killing me!” After getting his erratic laughter out of his system, he nudges my right arm with his elbow, “But for reals, I knew you’d eventually warm up to us. I know you wanna hug me, bro. You just got to do it. Don’t even have to ask.”

 

I give him a confused and offended look, “…No.”

 

He chuckles this time, thankfully, and nudges me again, “Hey, but I bet if I was Claudette you wouldn’t even think twice, huh?”

 

I nearly come to a full stop as I glare at him, “What are you talking about?”

 

“Nothing, nothing… Just that, you know, I saw the way you were staring at her earlier today… and, uh, you kept peeking over and smiling and—”

 

My pulse flares up and I turn to walk away. _No fucking way am I going to talk to the kid about this_.

 

He runs back to my side, “Hey, no offense, dude. I just wanted to, um, voice a simple observation, is all.”

 

I continue walking, but my pace seems to be quickening and the kid starts looking worried. Well he should be. Why the hell would he be telling me this? _Fuck, he better not have mentioned it to anyone else,_ I slowly start panicking. Just imagining everyone at their camp bombarding me with their pandering questions and accusations gets me exhaling in annoyance. If Dwight was already fucking accusing me of trying to take advantage of Claudette before, hearing even the slightest rumor about me staring at her would turn the motherfucker into my own goddamn jury.

 

“Hold on, Jake. Hey, if you and Clau—“

 

I abruptly stop, causing the kid to almost trip, “You want to get on my good side? Then don’t fucking mention anything.”

 

He quickly raises his hands, as if he was caught red-handed, “Hey, dude, bro, like, dude, really. I’m sorry about bringing it up, I just—“

 

“Don’t. Fucking. Mention it.” I repeat once again, trying not to get too damn upset about it, but wanting to make sure the kid understood.

 

“Okay, okay! My lips are sealed.” He tells me, gesturing to close his mouth like a zipper.

 

I exhale once again and continue walking. He follows behind me, finally quiet, but I could tell he was tense. Real tense. Shit. I overreacted again, didn’t I?

 

We walk a few yards until the silence gets unbearably annoying. I just had to have that tiny voice of better-judgement nag at me for getting upset like that, and the kid just had to have a look of complete guilt like a fucking puppy that was caught eating his own shit.

 

I slow down my pace a bit, and give him a short look over my shoulder, “It’s not that I don’t want to bring it up, I simply don’t—“ I sigh this time, unsure if I really want to tell him, but the words come out of my mouth before I can stop them, “…I’m not going to get in the way of anyone… Her and Dwight, whatever they have... I’m not going to cause that kind of trouble for her.”

 

“Oh… yeah, I get it, I- wait, her and Dwight?” the kids tells me, sounding confused. I mentally slap myself, stupid _fucking_ bitch, did anyone else know about them two or were they also keeping it undisclosed for now? Did I just fucking run my mouth on her?

 

“Yes- I mean.” I look at him intently, “Just don’t mention anything about it to me or anyone else, understood?” I ask him, this time stopping once again but looking at him expectantly.

 

He still looks confused but he nods nonetheless, “Yeah, yeah, of course… It’s just… I mean, are you _sure_ about her and-“

 

I harden my stare and clench my jaw- all too many times I had received the same glare from my father to warn me to keep my mouth shut. Apparently, it works for me as well. The kid closes his mouth and nods. I shake my head in annoyance and turn to continue walking.

 

I finally make my way to my camp. I was half-expecting to be called to another trial, but by the looks of it, I was stuck with the kid for a while.

 

He remained quiet as I settled myself on the ground, leaning against the single log that laid in front of my small campfire. I allow myself to relax and close my eyes as I let the slight warmth of the fire reach me. This run wasn’t nearly as intense as others, but I still felt fucking exhausted.

 

“Hey… wasn’t Ace with you guys? Or did he end up with Kate and Nea?” the kid finally asked as he took a seat next to me.

 

I opened my eyes but didn’t move, “He stayed behind with Tapp… His hand was still injured.”

 

“What?! It didn’t finish healing? But, it’s been hours! How-“

 

I finally turned to him, “With everything that has been going on, is it _really_ that surprising?”

 

His shoulders dropped, and he gave me the same defeated look as before, “…Not really. I just thought, I don’t know, like… the radio’s been working fine and Claudette said you were working on the other one, so, like… things were probably gonna start looking up, you know?... But now, it seems we might die before we get out of here, and…. I can’t work out what the Entity’s trying to do…”

 

His defeated look turned to one of concentration. If there was one thing the kid never stopped doing- besides talking, was thinking… So, I realized then, that the only way of up-keeping his morale was to feed into his stubborn fire.

 

“Whatever it’s doing, I don’t think it has anything to do with the radio.” I tell him with a sigh and turn back to lean my head against the log.

 

“Really? But, how? Or- well, how isn’t it?” he said as I heard him shift position and immediately felt his intense stare. Goddamned kid was too much like a dog.

 

“I doubt the Entity would risk creating any form of communication with the real world when it has kept us stuck in here for so long.” I tell him as I try to estimate just how long it’s been. It feels like over a year, but honestly, it could be more. Time feels suspended in this place and the longer it passes, the more everything starts fading out… _How the fuck did I end up here again?_... and just then, it dawned on me…

 

I couldn’t remember what happened before I woke up in this hell.

 

“That must mean we’re doing something right… right? So… that means the Entity is slipping up then, and we’re probably getting closer to defeating it, and...”

 

Whatever the kid was saying was lost on me. I was too preoccupied with the unsettling fact that most of my past life was fading away and I couldn’t stop it. _My parents… they were… fuck, what were their names?... my brother’s?... Peter, that’s right._

“…But we first have to figure out what makes it strong, you know. I think it has to do with us, no, I _know_ it has to do with us. I mean, why else would it keep us in here, right? It could’ve just killed us a long time ago.” The kid grabbed my shoulder and shook me. I couldn’t care much, though, since my worry was settling deep within my chest, “Dude… it can’t kill us!”

 

I looked at him a bit confused… what had he been saying?

 

He starts grinning, and shakes me again, “The Entity _can’t_ kill us! That’s why it has to rely on the killers to do it, but even then, they don’t do shit! I take that back, they do! But! Not in any meaningful way!” He then starts laughing, almost manically.

 

He stands up and starts pacing back and forth, his hands balled into fists as he starts jumping with excitement, “Dude! I can’t believe I never thought about it! How could I not see it?!”

 

I nod my head, but struggle to keep up with his train of thought… I couldn’t even remember my hometown… it was somewhere in Virginia, I am certain of that, but where?

 

“Ha-ha, you see! You’re so amazing, man! Yes!” He tells me as he crouches down, next to me. He turns to me and puts his left arm over my shoulder, “This. This is why we’re best buddies. You know how to get me started on things, to get me going, bro!”

 

I sigh once more as I push away all of my previous thoughts. There was no point to be dwelling on those matters, or lack thereof, so it was best to spend my time and energy on other things. Things that mattered. I no longer had my family, and my memories of them were fading away, but…

 

In that instant, Bill’s voice echoed in my mind… _‘But we’re the best damn thing ya got in this shithole…’_

I turn to the kid, whose smile remains unwavering as he looks at me, “You don’t need much to get started, do you?”

 

He laughs again, shaking his head, “When it comes to you- nope!”

 

I shake my head in feigned disapproval and allow myself to smirk, “I need to get working on the walkie-walkie. Go check on Ace.”

 

“Oh shit, you’re right!” He immediately tells me as he gets himself up. He dusts off his pants and smiles once more at me, “I know you need to concentrate on the fixing, so I’ll come by tomorrow with whatever news I got. Or, if we have a trial together-”

 

“I will see you later.”

 

He snaps his fingers and points them at me, “Later, alligator!” and with that he takes off running.

 

After a few moments of watching the kid disappear into the fog of the woods, my stomach growls and I feel it’s gnawing contractions _. Well, shit. I should have eaten the rest of the food…_ I scold myself.

 

I will myself to finally get up. Although I was uncertain if I had actually heard an incoming transmission earlier today, I had little-to-none expectations of getting the damn thing to work. But I sigh in telling myself that I should start following my own shitty advice on things… _Fuck it_.

 

As I walk into my shed, I can’t help but think of Claudette. My bed is still unkempt from our time together and the tin can of slightly withered lavender remains unmoved on my nightstand from where I had first placed it weeks ago. I supposed Meg was right- I couldn’t help falling in love with her, and assuming that Claudette wasn’t completely sold on being in love with Dwight, neither would she.

 

While I gave myself a cringe-worthy pep-talk about winning over Claudette, I mindlessly opened the battery cover of the walkie-talkie. I expected to see old, rotting batteries, but instead a small, folded piece of paper fell out from the empty compartment. I remained still for a moment, my mind frozen with confusion as to what the hell it was that I was looking at, until I finally decided to open it. It was neatly folded in more than ten ways as to make it compact as possible, and I was getting irritated with each unfolding. Damn thing reminded me of my high school classmates’ notes that were confiscated far too many times by disgruntled teachers.

 

“It better not be a fucking love letter from the kid…” I whispered to myself as I finally unfolded the deeply creased letter. The handwriting was neat, too neat to be written by the clumsy hands of the kid, but I was right… it was a love letter.

 

Although I was cringing throughout the several paragraphs of timid confessions, I didn’t groan until I read the meticulously-written end sentence. _‘I feel like I can’t help fall for you, Jake.’_

But it wasn’t until I read aloud the name that followed the ‘ _Sincerely,’_ that the cold, harsh slap of irony hit my chest.

 

“…Laurie?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.s.
> 
>  
> 
> Dear readers (if possible),
> 
>  
> 
> Give your dads a big ol' hug for me, will ya? :)
> 
>  
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> XxCyro922xX

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story, ever... Please be gentle :(


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